Behind A Veil of Silver and Green: Tania Dethart
by Jaylyn Gilfer Bustinex
Summary: ON HOLD. In the days of the Boy Who Lived, to be Slytherin was to be loathed Here in lies the tale of Tania Dethart and her part in the Final Defeat of the Dark Lord Rated in case. Part of the 'Veil' series
1. The Ball at Malfoy Manor

A/N: 1) For those of you who have read my 'Slytherin Army, Death Eaters Reborn' yes this is the same character and family, but the storyline is much different. I have developed the characters and plot a great deal more. So the names are the same, but that's about it.

2) My sister, RaineArilan, is writing a fic about Alex Bellmonte. These two pieces are meant to be read together. Some of the scenes will be the same, as Tania and Alex interact, but from different POV. Please read her stuff, it's awesome.

3) Please review. Any comments are helpful.

Tania Dethart stood in front of her mirror as a servant smoothed the dark red skirt. Another servant finished her hair, making sure it fell gently around her shoulders, not a strand out of place. The door of her room opened and Tania felt a jolt of panic shoot through her. Annabelle Dethart, Tania's mother, swept into the room. She smiled at her youngest child and only daughter.

"You look wonderful, Little Tani. Tonight will be worth the price." Annabelle took a gold necklace from the dresser and placed in around her daughter's throat. Tania knew very well the price of tonight's adventure. Her mother was still beautiful, but for those who could see, her mother looked thin, pale.

"I won't disappoint you, Mother." Tania promised in her soft tones. Tania never spoke in anything much louder than a whisper. For a moment, she thought her mother would start crying. That was not a good thing. Crying was never worth it.

"I know, Sweet Child, I know. You have never disappointed me." Annabelle touched Tania's cheek, a rare second of gentle physical contact. The door opened again and both women took a hurried step apart. A young man of 15 stepped inside and carefully shutting the door behind him. He smiled at the two, his blue eyes sparkling.

"You both look amazing. Father will not be upset with you this night." He moved closer to stand before them. Tania reached out and straightened his collar.

"You should not say such things, Hunter. Father is never predictable." She did smile at his compliment. He offered an arm to each of them.

"We don't want to be late." He said, leading them from the room and down the stairs. In the entrance hall stood the other two members of the Dethart Family. Kent Dethart took his wife from his eldest son and gave Tania a critical once over.

"You'll pass." He said, coolly. Her other brother, Falon, smirked.

"Falon, do your best to keep your siblings under control. Tania, do not disgrace this family. Let's go." He disappeared with a _snap_ followed by Annabelle. Hunter and Falon led the way outside to an awaiting carriage.

Tania had never been to Malfoy Manor before and was very impressed and more than a little overwhelmed. Her Father was always speaking of the Malfoys and comparing her family to them. She allowed herself one moment of private amusement as she realized that Falon and her Father clashed horribly with the Manor colors. She stayed silent as she was introduced to Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, then followed Falon and Hunter as they approached Draco and his group.

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"Good evening Draco." Falon said as they came up. He turned and nodded.

"Hunter, Falon..." Draco trailed off as he noticed her. "Is this your younger sister, Tania, I believe?" It took her a moment to realize that she was expected to respond.

"Yes, I am Tania." She said, quietly. "Good evening, I am honored to meet you." Falon gave her a subtle sign that she had said enough. Draco smirked, an _of course you are_ smirk, but he inclined his head.

"The honor is mine. Would you all care to join us?" Falon responded and Tania let her mind wander. She would soon be forgotten and was not expected to remember the conversation. Soon others came by to speak briefly to Draco before moving on, but she didn't pay them any attention until one girl, dressed similar to Draco came by.

"Draco. Good evening." The new girl said. He looked up and smiled.

"Good evening, Alex. How are you?" he responded.

"I'm quite well. And you?" she continued the formal conversation.

"Looking forward to school. Alex, you know the Detharts, don't you?" Remembering his social duty, Draco gestured to his three companions.

"Not as well as I'd like." Alex offered her hand. "Tania, correct?" That shocked Tania out of her isolation. She fought to keep the shock out of her eyes. Why was Alexandria Bellmonte paying any attention to her? Tania knew who she was, she knew the names and faces of every pureblood house by heart.

"Yeah, she doesn't get out a lot." Falon interjected himself into the conversation, breaking Tania's train of thought. She was painfully aware of her brother and his expectations.Tania quietly shook Alex's hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Miss Bellmonte," she said softly.

"Oh please." Alex smiled. "Call me Alex. It's a shame I haven't met you before. I'll have to start asking my parents to invite you specifically to our gatherings." Tania saw Falon tense and assumed one of his customary flashes of anger was crossing his face. Tania could also see Hunter's hand twitch, his only response to the possibility of more freedom for her. Tania inclined her head gracefully towards Alex but said nothing.

"You really needn't trouble yourself, Alex." Falon said slimily. Tania felt her heart drop. She could almost hear the door slam and the key turning in the lock. How could Tania have been so innocent? Ms. Bellmonte was only being polite. Falon had just relieved her of any obligation.

"Oh don't worry, Falon. I never do anything that troubles me." Alex assured him, sending just a little hope back into Tania's despair.

"It's true." Draco confirmed, joining in the conversation for the first time in a while. "She's quite self-gratifying mostly."

"Well, someone has to do it for me." Alex shrugged off Draco's comment. "I might as well stick to someone I know I can trust to do it right…me."

Hunter chuckled and Tania wanted to, but did not dare . Alex looked as if she had just realized something and glanced at Draco.

"So, Pansy approached me as I came in. Seems to think our outfits were 'cute', Draco." Alex abruptly changed the topic.

"Why?" Draco all but sneered.

"Cause they are," Tania whispered. She had not intended to, but it had slipped out. Everyone looked at her and Tania felt the panic begin to rise. That had not been an acceptable comment. Before she could do anything, Falon casually laid a hand on her shoulder. Tania felt herself pale as the panic turned to fear. She sensed Hunter subtly tense next to her. _Please, Oh Please,_ she begged, _Not here, Falon, not now._

Alex laughed lightly. "The girl speaks truth." Stepping forward she threw an arm around Tania's shoulders, removing Falon's grip. "Pansy said they were cute, Draco _cause they are_. Deal with it."

Draco gave the girls a long withering glare before putting on his Society Face again. "Well, if you three think them _cute_ who am I to argue?"

"Never argue with women, Draco. You'll live longer." Alex grinned and turned towards her. "Care to mingle with me, Tania?" Tania fought to remain calm. To refuse would be an insult to Alex and that would get her in trouble, but if she left her brother she would also get in trouble. Falon opened his mouth to speak, when Hunter placed a hand on his shoulder, as casually as his brother had a moment before. This time it was Falon who tensed, but much more visibly.

"I'd hate to impose." Tania continued to be soft spoken. _There, that should satisfy her._

Alex sighed dramatically. "_What_ is with people thinking I'm doing them favors?! Alexandria Bellmonte does _not_ do charity! Come on, Tani. Let's ditch these boys."

_What did she just call me? No one calls me Tani but Hunter and Mother, and Falon when he's being the most cruel._ She knew a look of utter astonishment crossed her face before she regained control of her features. "If you put it that way I'd be delighted." She said, politely.

"Good. Now you boys play nice. I'll bring your sister back in mostly one piece." Alex waved a hand over her shoulder at the group as she dragged Tania away, who sighed inwardly. She was going to be in so much trouble later, but for now she was going to enjoy this.

A/N: Hope you liked it. Please review.


	2. The Aftermath and the Train

A/N: 1) For those of you who have read my 'Slytherin Army, Death Eaters Reborn' yes this is the same character and family, but the storyline is much different. I have developed the characters and plot a great deal more. So the names are the same, but that's about it.

2) My sister, RaineArilan, is writing a fic about Alex Bellmonte. These two pieces are meant to be read together. Some of the scenes will be the same, as Tania and Alex interact, but from different POV. Please read her stuff, it's awesome.

3) Please review. Any comments are helpful.

"How _dare_ you, Tania! I cannot believe that you would think you can behave that way." Falon began his rant as soon as the door of their carriage shut and they started for home. Tania said nothing. Falon never expected an answer.

"Alex must think us the lowest form of Pureblood. Surely you have ruined whatever good reputation I had built with the upper class. Not only did you impose on a Bellmonte, but you were gone most of the night." Falon turned his furious gaze to his brother. "And you, stepping in where you weren't needed or wanted. Tania had no right to leave me and you interfered so I could not stop her. Do you want to be noticed by the Elite? Then let me work. I know how they think, what they want to hear. I am the one who can gain status for our family."

Hunter, who had been looking out the window, finally met Falon's stare. "Tania did nothing wrong, Falon. To have kept her from Alex would have been a grave insult. Tania knows how to behave and I have no doubt that she did not disgrace us."

Falon sneered. "You are as blind as you are weak, Hunter, if you think such things." Suddenly his hand lashed out and struck Tania across the face.

"You are not paying attention." He snarled. She blinked and redirected her gaze to her brother. A bruise began to form on her cheek, but she didn't appear to notice or care. And in truth, she didn't. Bruises were gone by morning and the pain they brought was insignificant.

Hunter grabbed Falon's wrist as he moved to hit her again. " That is _enough_!! Yell at her if you must, but do not ruin this night. Do not strike her, _Little Brother_."

"I'm sorry, Falon." She whispered, to distract them both. It was the only thing Falon ever wanted from her when he finished. Not an explanation or excuses, just an apology. He wanted her to admit that she was wrong and he was right.

Falon yanked his arm free of Hunter, leaned back in his seat and studied her for several long moments. "I think you might mean it…this time. Don't do it again." He warned. Nothing more was said on the ride home, everything that needed to be said, had been.

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Tania passed through the barrier into the chaos that was the school platform. Muggles, Mudbloods, and Halfbloods ran around with no apparent direction or order. It was easy to spot the Purebloods in the crowd. They were isolated calm, collected and silently suffering the masses swirling around them.

Her Family was no exception. Father and Mother walked calmly through the insanity, the students parting before them. Falon, then Hunter, then Tania followed. Servants carried their trunks. The goodbyes that were said were short and formal. Each child took their trunks and owls and boarded the train. There was no reason to linger on the platform, anyone worth talking to had already boarded.

Tania watched as both her brothers left, slowly pulling her trunk behind her. She had no friends to rush to, nor did she want to sit with Falon or disturb Hunter. She passed by compartments filled with Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuff. There were a few groups of Slytherins, but they preferred the front of the train usually.

Tania paused at the doorway to one compartment. Inside was Alex Bellmonte, alone, and reading a textbook. She had been the only Slytherin girl to ever talk to her and Tania had to admit that she had enjoyed mingling with Alex. Her quick and caustic wit were a refreshing change to what Tania was used to. It couldn't hurt, asking to sit with Alex. Most others would leave her alone. No one like to sit with Slytherins.

She quietly knocked on the glass. Alex looked up from her reading. Tania refused to meet the other girl's gaze.

"Hello, Tania." Alex greeted.

"Are these seats taken?" Tania asked tentatively.

"No. Go ahead and sit. Do you need help stowing your things?"

"No. Thank you. I'm fine." Tania quickly swung her luggage into the rack above their heads before Alex could do more than offer. It wouldn't due for Alex to think that Tania couldn't take care of herself. Once finished, she took the other window seat, directly across from Alex. Taking out a textbook similar to Alex's, Tania hesitated. It would be rude to read if Alex wanted to talk or something.

"Oh, good. You're going to read too. I wanted to finish this before class started." Alex disappeared behind her book and Tania breathed a silent breath of relief. Falon's words about disgracing the family were still haunting her. Tania gratefully hid in the world of academia.

A silence fell, mostly a comfortable one. It was punctuated only by the occasional noise of students passing by in the hall. Tania caught scathing glares that Alex gave over the top of her textbook to keep anyone else from trying to sit in their compartment. The sound of students had faded and the platform had nearly cleared when…

"Alex!" a voice called. It took everything in Tania's power to keep from flinching, but she managed it. Fixing her eyes on the page in front of her, Tania recognized several of Alex's year-mates, Fourth Years. She heard rather than saw Alex close her book.

"Milli. Blaise. Looking for a seat?" Alex asked.

"Alex." Milli slid into the seat next to Tania, ignoring her, for which Tania was fine with. She didn't want to bring any attention to herself. "How was your summer?" Milli continued.

"Same old stuff," Alex responded with just a hint of yawn in her voice. Tania saw Alex smile suddenly. "I know your grandmother is old fashion like that, Blaise, but all the girls are seated. You don't have to keep standing." Tania swallowed hard as she connected the second person as Blaise Zabini. She kept her gaze firmly on her book, hoping none of them would notice the fact that she didn't turn any pages.

He grinned and dropped down beside Alex as the train started moving. "I've been hearing weird stuff about you lately, Lex."

"Rumors? About me?" Alex flipped her hair over her shoulder and rolled her eyes. "Why, that's never happened to me before!"

"I'm not talking about rumors, Alexandria."

"Oh! Use of full name. Are you worried about me, Blaise?" She dropped a hand delicately onto his shoulder. "I'm touched."

"Lex! What happened between you and Darius at that stupid Flint party?!"

Milli leaned forward, concern warring with glee in her eyes.

"What makes you think that's any of your business, Zabini?" Alex's voice was quite vicious.

"Goyle said you did his brother. Marcus says he did you. Darius himself has either no comment or mutters something about you screwing Draco Malfoy. Who won't comment one way of the other as far as I've heard…" Tania felt very out of her league. She knew all those names, but it all swirled around her as the older students gossiped.

"_What_?!" Milli exclaimed in delighted shock.

"_What_?!" Alex growled in an unknowing echo, gripping Blaise's arm.

"What?" Pansy stood just outside their compartment, a surprised smile on her face. "Our very own Alex is a sl-"

With a sharp wave of her wand, which had appeared instantly in her hand, Alex sent the door slamming shut barely missing the end of Pansy's nose. This time, Tania could not keep from flinching at the sound, but no one noticed as they were all watching the outraged Pansy. Personally, Tania would have done the same thing and envied Alex the confidence to actually do it. Laughter turned to rage when Pansy failed in her attempts to yank the door back open.

"I'd cast a silencing spell but I think there's no point. This seems to be wide spread amongst the men and now that Pansy knows...will there be anyone who won't find out? Somehow, I doubt it." Alex said.

"You're entirely too correct," Milli said, sighing lightly. "What's your plan, Lex?"

"Simple, do nothing." Tania nodded, still using her book as a shield. If Alex protested, it would only make everyone believe there was truth to it.

"I am a Bellmonte." Alex continued, "I am above such obvious stupidity. I do not acknowledge it and it cannot touch me. I don't care."

After a second Blaise nodded slowly. "If there's no reaction then what's the point. Elegant and practical as ever, Alex."

"As for the rumors themselves, your sources are _Goyle_ and _Marcus Flint_. Who believes Marcus and Goyle about anything? Draco…" Alex shrugged. "He's Draco Malfoy. It's _all_ complicated."

"Ain't that the truth." Milli muttered. Alex and Blaise jerked up and stared at her. Alex started to grin. "Milli…that was hilarious." Tania hid a frown, she didn't understand what was so funny.

Milli laughed. "Ain't it just?" this time her voice held disgusted mockery.

"Oh gosh." Alex started to laugh as well. "I never thought I'd hear Millicent Bulstrode using low born language."

Tania switched her gaze from the book to the window and watched as countryside passed rapidly outside as the others laughed. They had calmed down by the time a knock came from outside the compartment door. Tania glanced over and saw only the nice old woman who sold candy and treats off her cart. Alex spelled the door back open.

"One of everything and two of anything new." Alex ordered with the air of one who didn't care about prices or depriving someone else of a supply.

"The same." Blaise said in a scornful monotone, his 'public' voice.

"One of everything and two of anything chocolate." Milli put in creatively.

"And for you my dear?" The old lady leaned in and looked at Tania.

"I-I…Nothing for me thanks. I'm fine." She had no pocket money left. The small allowance she received had all gone toward research books that had to tide her over until Christmas.

Milli let out an airily cruel laugh that cut Tania deep. "Oh just order something even if you don't want it now. Alex pays for everything and her purse has no known bottom." Tania felt all the blood drain from her face. It was bad enough that she had no money, but now Milli was suggesting that she take charity.

"Oh please do buy one of everything at least. My parents get suspicious if they don't think I'm spending my money on 'normal' things." Alex didn't look at Tania as she said it. Tania knew Alex was pitying her, but there was no way to back down gracefully.

"One of everything then." Tania spoke just loud enough to be heard, and was happy that she didn't falter over the words at all. As soon as she'd spoken the appropriate treats flew to the laps of those who'd ordered them and Alex pulled out her belt purse. When a handful of galleons had found their way into the pocket of the woman's robe she left and Alex shut the door again but refrained from locking it.

"So. Who are you exactly?" Milli said, ignoring the bounty of junk food covering her lap. Her words prevented Tania from retreating behind her book again, as she had started to.

"Must be somebody interesting to earn a spot in Alex's compartment." Blaise commented as he opened a chocolate frog. Tania took a breath to answer as Alex did it for her.

"Millicent Bulstrode. Blaise Zabini. This Tania Dethart. I'm sure you've met her older brothers, Hunter and Falon." Alex commented.

"Falon?" Milli jumped right in, smirking. "Not the Hated-Imbecile Falon?" Tania swallowed. There was no right way to answer that.

"What she means to say," Blaise interjected smoothly, "is that you are far too beautiful to be related to a _specimen_ such as _Falon _Dethart."

Tania, who had just gotten her coloring back from the last comment, paled brilliantly, which was followed by a blush at Blaise's comment. Red stained her cheekbones. Alex chuckled and tapped Blaise's nose with her wand.

"She is quite lovely but she's too young for you Blaise. Don't you prefer them tall, blonde and at least seventh year if you can't get a Professor?" she asked.

Blaise leaned back in his seat and grinned smugly. "Not that _that_ happens often."

"The only time you ever did without was when your grandfather put that age limit spell on you. Limited you to girls within six months of your age if I remember rightly." Alex smirked at his horrified expression.

"Hit on everything vaguely feminine in our year you did…including me and Alex." Milli was laughing again.

"It was not exactly my fault! Abstinence has never been my thing!"

"And it was second year too! I'm not sure who was more relieved when your grandfather took it off, you or the girls your age."

As the landscape continued to rush past and the conversation dissolved into debating Blaise's conquests and preferences, Tania slipped back into hiding behind her textbook, grateful to once again be forgotten. She tuned out the others for the rest of the trip, disappearing as soon as the train stopped.


	3. The Sorting Feast

Here's my third chapter. Please review and let me know your reading it. I update the storied that I know are being read faster and I only know that my reviews.

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Van 'Mark' Baddock shoved his way through the other students to the small cluster of his Year-mates. He saw Edward Boles and Miles Bletchley standing next to Hunter Dethart. Mark came up behind them and leaned on his friends.

"So, where's Charlie?" he drawled. With identical glares, they shoved him back.

"Lost, probably. Either that or he decided to swim straight to Common Room with all this rain." Miles remarked, pushing a Hufflepuff who had gotten too close. He jerked forward and turned to see a annoyed Charlie, who had just struck him.

"I was _not_ lost. Some Gryffie Second Year decided to not watch where he was going and fell on his face right in front of me. It was too good an opportunity to pass up." He grinned in remembered amusement. The group of Fifth year Slytherins started toward the Great Hall, passing by Peeves, then a furious McGonagall.

"It seems Peeves started Term out with a bang," Hunter commented. They all snickered as they passed through the double doors. Mark frowned slightly as he realized that something wasn't right. They were all present and accounted for, but something was missing.

A small girl in Slytherin green slid silently into the middle of the group, right behind Hunter. No one paid any attention to the little shadow, they never did. For the most part, they never even thought about her. Mark noticed her this time only because he was looking for whatever wasn't right. Who was she? She was always around. After a moment it came to him. Tania Dethart, Hunter's sister, Hunter's shadow. His attention wandered to a horrible joke Ed was making and she was forgotten again.

They all claimed seats near the center of the table. Mark saw several other groups of Purebloods clustered together. Malfoy, with his puppets, Crabbe and Goyle, sat near the Seventh Years as if he owned the place. Parkinson and Bulstrode hovered near the blonde boy. Alexandria Bellmonte held court between Malfoy's group and theirs.

He could pick out groups of others, but he couldn't put names to them all. Mark sat down next to Miles on his left and Ed on the right. Charlie sat across from Ed and Hunter took a seat opposite Miles, leaving an empty place next to him. Hunter always left an empty seat next to him. Unnoticed Tania slid into this last chair.

"The Sorting will now begin." McGonagall's voice cut through all the conversations. Mark turned in his seat to watch.

"Hey," Miles elbowed him. Mark glanced over, arching an eyebrow in question.

"Why are you watching? We never watch." Miles whispered.

Mark pointed to a first year, a boy with sandy brown hair. "Younger brother." He mouthed. Miles nodded in understanding and joined him in watching the Sorting. Making sure younger siblings followed the family tradition was important. He remembered the humiliation Hunter felt when his brother was Sorted into Ravenclaw. At least his sister had been found worthy.

Distracted for a second, Mark scanned the other Third Years for Tania and frowned. He couldn't find her among her year-mates. After glancing back at the Sorting to make sure he wouldn't miss his brother, he looked up and down the table for the missing girl. She was no where to be seen. But everyone had to come to the first Feast and he had seen her earlier, hadn't he? Where...oh that's right, she had walked next to Hunter into the Hall.

Finally he looked to the empty seat next to Hunter and gave a short chuckle under his breath. She was right in front of him, sitting in the 'empty' seat. She had her eyes fixed on the Sorting, not missing one detail. She did not appear to notice him looking at her.

"Baddock, Malcolm." Mark whirled around as his brother climbed the few steps to the stool and the Hat. He was proud to note that Malcolm did not betray nerves or uncertainty. The Hat was placed on his head and after the briefest of seconds it called, "SLYTHERIN!"

Mark released a breath that he hadn't realized he had been holding as his brother grinned and made his way over to the table. He paused as he passed his older brother. Mark put a hand on his shoulder.

"Well done, Malcolm." He said.

Another grin was gifted to his brother, "Thanks, Donavan." His Year-mates laughed. Mark growled at them, then faced his brother.

"They call me Mark, long story, or Van." He explained. Malcolm winced.

"Sorry, I won't forget." He vowed. Mark lightly cuffed his brother upside the head.

"No big deal. I'll talk to you in Common Room." He said and Malcolm moved off to sit with his Year-Mates.

Mark turned back to his friends. "That's all I wanted to see." He pulled out several small red paper balls. "Quidditch anyone?" There was a quick scramble as they set up. Using their fingers as 'goals', each team took turned flicking the paper balls through the 'goals'. The score was tied at 210, when Hunter lost his amazing aim and the Quaffle soared across the gap between tables and hit a Gryffindor girl in the back of the head. She turned around angrily.

"You have a problem, Kitty?" Charlie sneered. She frowned.

"That's not my name," she hissed. He and Miles exchanged looked and Charlie tapped his House crest. She glanced at her own robes.

"Such a pretty, harmless little kitty," he snickered. She turned a dark red.

"Welcome to a new term. I am pleased to see every face here. And now, I have only two words to say, 'Tuck in'." Dumbledore cut off the Gryffindor's retort and food appeared on all the Tables. Miles and Charlie shot the girl identical sneers before turning back to their food.

After every student had stuffed themselves completely, Dumbledore rose once more. He raised his hands for silence and mostly got it. "So! Now that we are all fed and watered, I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices." The Slytherin boys tuned out the Professor, until his last announcement, which caught the attention of every person in the Hall.

"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year. This is due to an event that will be starting in October and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy. But I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts..."

Thunder, followed by a slamming door, echoed through the Hall. A figure in a black traveling cloak stood in the doorway, leaning on a long staff. A man with a long mane of grizzled, dark grey hair, slowly made his way to the Teachers' table. He and Dumbledore shook hands and he sat down on the right of the Headmaster.

"May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Moody." Silence met his introduction. Only Professor Dumbledore and Hagrid clapped.

"As I was saying, we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not be held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the TriWizard will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

One of the Weasleys yelled, "YOU'RE JOKING!" Several Slytherins rolled their eyes.

"Can't those idiots keep their mouths shut for a minute?" Mark complained.

"I think that's beyond their intellectual abilities," Hunter informed him.

"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley," the Headmaster continued, "though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar..." "Er.. but maybe this is not the time...no... where was I? Ah, yes, the TriWizard Tournament, Well, some of you will not know what this Tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation and allow their attention to wander freely." Given permission, the Fifth Years returned to their Quidditch game until released to their Common Rooms and bed.


	4. Reflections and Lunch

Here is Chapter 4. Most chapters will be from Tania's Point of View, but every once in a while I will change points of view to keep things interesting.

Please Review

Tania slid into bed with a grateful sigh. She was so happy to be back at school. Things had gone mostly the way she had expected they would, which was a rare enough thing. It was nice to have no surprises for once. Ok, well, almost no surprises. Tania had been amazed at her own daring, to ask _Alexandria Bellmonte_ if Tania could sit with her on the train. She still couldn't believe she had done it. And even more amazing was the fact that Alex had said yes. She had been able to spend a worry-free trip. Falon would never have dared to do anything in front of a Bellmonte.

And Mr. Zabini, Tania dared to call him Blaise in the quietest corner of her mind. He had been…nice. A older, Slytherin _male_ had been nice. And he hated Falon and said she was pretty. For a brief second, Tania allowed herself to be attracted to Blaise, but crushed that feeling as soon as she identified it. It was stupid to get her hopes up. She was weak, right? Worthless, hopeless. How many times had she heard that? Even if she had the courage to talk to him, he'd be disgusted by her weakness. Better not to dream, even a little.

Tania skipped ahead in her memories to getting to school. She had found Hunter quickly enough and had taken her place in the middle of the Fifth Year guys. Like every time, they ignored her. She liked it that way. She wanted to stay near Hunter, but if they noticed, they'd ask questions and those couldn't be answered. That lead to the second set of surprises. Donavan Baddock, who they called Mark, had looked at her twice. Looked at her, not around her or through her as they normally did. The first time was when she had joined them. He had been frowning, then saw her, and his face cleared. What had he been thinking about? Surely it had been a coincidence that he had stopped frowning when she had come.

_Thinking too highly of yourself again_. The second time, she could have sworn that he was looking _for_ her. He had looked at the other Third Years, then up and down the table before turning to see her. He had stared for a moment. Tania had kept her eyes locked firmly on the Sorting, but she was acutely aware of his gaze. What did he want? It wasn't lust or anything. She may be sheltered, but she knew what _that_ looked like. But he had noticed her, which was NOT a good thing. Being noticed was one of the worst things that could happen. That only brought questions and pain.

Anyway, he had lost his concentration when his brother was Sorted and he hadn't looked at her again. Hopefully, he never would. She wouldn't tell Hunter, not yet. If he refused to leave her alone, or kept looking, then she'd tell Hunter. No point in making him worry.

"Tania, turn off the light." One of her year-mates called sleepily. Tania sighed, waved her hand over the candle and went to sleep.

_That man is absolutely terrifying._ Tania thought to herself as she made her way down to lunch. She had just had her first DADA class with Professor 'Constant Vigilance' Moody and was completely unnerved. Most teachers ignored her in class and she never volunteered anything. Not Moody. He had spotted her as soon as class had started and had drawn more attention to her than she had ever had. He kept calling on her, and while she knew the answers, she didn't like the fact that her house-mates had been staring at her.

As if that wasn't enough to deal with, they had started on one of her _oh so favorite_ topics, curses. All that together had pretty much ruined her day. Curses, an important part of the Dark Arts, hit a little too close to home for her. Plus they weren't going to just discuss them, but have live demonstrations. She wasn't sure she could handle watching someone being placed under a curse. At least they weren't covering the Unforgivables this year. That was one small blessing.

"Tani? You ok?" Hunter's voice broke through her thoughts. She turned and smiled at her brother. He quickly joined her, his own school books in his arms and a school bag over one shoulder. With a shift of books, he slid an arm around his younger sister's shoulders.

"I'm alright, Hunt. I just had my first class with Moody." Tania explained as they merged with the other students heading for the Great Hall. Avoiding a group of Ravenclaws, they headed for the Slytherin Table. "He's a scary man." She informed him.

"Like Professor Snape was terrifying when you first saw him?" he asked with a smile. Tania had been absolutely frozen with fear when she saw Snape. He was a harsh man and she was already on overload from being at school for the first time. Since then she had learned that even though he was not nice, he wasn't like her Father.

"No," she shook her head while serving herself, "Snape is different. Moody is…vindictive. He picked on me the whole class."

"What?" Hunter growled, instantly protective. "What'd he do? I'll deal with him." She smiled. Hunter was such a good brother. She didn't deserve such a sibling.

"No," she repeated, "It's not like that. He just saw me in my corner and kept calling on me. I knew all the answers without thinking." For a brief moment Slytherin pride shown on her face. She was the best and she knew it. Just as quickly it was gone again. Only Hunter ever saw these glimpses into the true Slytherin that his sister was.

"Alright, I'll leave him in one piece, for now." he assured her. "At least until I have my first class with him and my boys help me prank him into next year."

"Who are we pranking and why?" Edward Boles slid into a seat across from Hunter. He greedily began to pile his plate with everything vaguely edible within arms reach.

"Hey, Eddie. We're gonna prank Moody. Everyone who's had class with him has said he's horrible. I figure between us we can teach him a few things." Hunter said mildly, handing his friend a goblet of juice.

"Sound fun." Charlie joined the group, snatching the juice and the bread Eddie had in his hand. "Count me in." Eddie glared at the thief and took another piece of roll and a new glass. Tania was enjoying the banter as she ate in silence. The boys didn't know her, but she knew them and liked them a lot. She wished she could find friends like them. Within a few minutes the rest of the boys had shown up and, after a few scuffles over food, settled down to begin plotting against Moody.


	5. Blood Magic

A/N: Thank you to all who reviewed my chapters. For those of you reading booth this one and Alex Bellmonte's story by RaineArilan, you may already know this. We have decided to turn these fics into a series of stories about different purebloods, all that intertwine together. They will be titled 'Behind a Veil of Silver and Green: Whoever'. So This fic's title has been changed to match.

All reviews are helpful and welcome.

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Slowly and with little apparent concern, Tania made her way down from the girls dorm. Pausing to consider the empty Common Room, she decided to keep moving. A glance at the Message Board showed nothing new since the notice about the water games for the first and second years who couldn't go to Hogsmeade. A twinge of regret and hate flashed through her. She had been waiting for so long to be able to go to Hogsmeade and now she was a Third Year…but Falon had cornered her last night, so she couldn't go.

Flashback

_"Hey, Tania." Falon's voice cut to her core, even though the words were calm and almost gentle. That meant it was going to be bad. She stopped and faced her brother._

"_Little sister, tomorrow is Hogsmeade. I'm sure you're excited to finally go. It's too bad Hunter has to stay behind." His voice was silky, but the malice was as clear as the flash of triumph in his eyes. _

"_Yes, it is. I suppose I'll have to wander the village myself." She managed to get out. Falon had placed a hand on her shoulder and it was suddenly harder to breathe. _

"_We can't have that, my dear. _Father_ would never forgive me. I'll show you around. We can….bond. Imagine, the whole day together. I'm sure it will be fun, don't you agree?" She nodded slowly. Her brother smirked and released her. Tania fled as fast as she could._

end flashback

Hate coursed through her. She was stuck here while everyone else was discovering Hogsmeade. Tania hadn't told Hunter. He was busy and would have killed Falon. Or he would have put aside what he was doing to take her. None of that was good, so she said nothing. Determined to make the best of the situation, she had gathered supplies for an experiment that she had not dared to try with the rest of the school roaming the halls.

Exiting Common Room and turning deeper into the dungeons, she pulled her bag of equipment closer. She did not encounter another soul, and that included the ghosts of the castle. The air around her became colder and dank, but she didn't mind. That meant there was even less of a chance of someone stumbling upon her. Plus she was used to those sensations. After a few minutes, she walked into an abandoned classroom and locked the door behind her.

"_Lumos_," she cast and light filled the room. Spotting several candles around the room, she moved to each one and lit the wicks. There was a lot of dust but the candles were still in good shape and so burst into flame easily. She set a double lock on the door. She did not want any distractions. Placing her bag on a side table, Tania pulled out two books, one with the words _Runes of the Roman Era _in gold letters and the other had a set of symbols on the cover where a title normally went. A dictating quill, small bowl, several white cloths, and a small, but sharp dagger followed the books out of her bag. Opening the second book she read over the words she had there, easily translating the special language she used into English in her mind.

…_As with most magic, adding something that belongs to the caster will strengthen the spell and bind it to the caster's mind…._

…_In those dark times, wizards and witches used blood to cast their darker spells. Blood was easily gained and easily replaced…_

…_Runes hold a special significance that few wizards truly understand. Only those extremely gifted individuals can summon the strongest form of runes…_

…_Runes, once marked on a certain object and if cast in the correct manner, will last as long as the wizard can hold the spell…._

Her own notes came underneath…

Blood binds spells to the witch. Spells are not dark or light, your intentions determine that. 

_Runes will last as long as the witch can hold the spell. Adding blood to the rune casting or possibly drawing the runes in the caster's blood might make it that much easier to hold the spell longer. Any drain felt from such a spell should be easier to bear once the mind adjusts to the new pressure._

That was what she was going to do. If that worked, she would be well on her way to the next piece of her real goal. That goal might take her all year to research the pieces and complete, but it would be worth it. It was something she needed.

Turning now to the textbook she had brought with her, she found the runes of shielding that she wanted to try casting with the blood. Tania had successfully cast the runes on their own over the summer several times, but only for very short periods of time. If her Father found out that she was casting Fifth or Sixth Years runes in the house, he would have…_well, let's not think about that._ She instructed herself, _Focus on the spell. This is not child's play. You remember what happened the first time you cast these with only half of your mind focused._ A shudder went through her as she recalled. It had not been a pretty sight and luckily for her, no one was home but the House Elves and the Muggle servants. They had helped her clean it up, since no one was around to forbid them.

Placing the book on the floor, she knelt with the bowl, the dagger, and the cloths. Tania pulled off her outer robes and carefully set them well away from where any blood might splatter. After rolling up the left sleeve, she studied the light pattern of scars on the inside of her left arm. There were a few that were more visible, those that had cut deeper. None of these she had shown Hunter. He wouldn't have understood.

Collecting the dagger in her right hand, she slowly pulled it across her skin, feeling the building pain and watching the red liquid ooze out of the cut, then drip one drop at a time into the bowl. The pain was sharp, but almost beautiful. Tania had such a high pain tolerance, thanks to her past and current life, that she hardly felt anything at all, unless it was a concentrated effort. This counted. For these brief moments, she could _feel_ and knew for certain that she was still alive.

Soon enough the pain faded to a barely felt ache and, sighing, she returned to her task. The pain lasted for shorter and shorter amounts of time. Now she was back to that empty lifelessness that she normally existed in.

The blood had collected to fill the bowl half way. That was more than enough and she wrapped a white cloth around the wound to stop the bleeding. No sense in passing out and being caught. Blood magic was legal and illegal. There was a list of spells that were against the law, and technically what she was doing wasn't on the list, but most people never made that distinction and she would be branded as an evil Dark Witch if found.

Dipping her finger in the bowl, she could feel her magic in the red stains. She outlined the six runes that made up the shield spell. Once completed, she had used half of the blood, but it was ready to activate. She wiped her hand on another cloth and pulled out her wand. Pointing it at the symbols on the floor, she spoke the spell words. Each rune flared in turn and then together. A field of blue light blazed to life and surrounded her.

Tania sat back on her heels and looked at her handiwork. She could feel the presence of the spell in her mind, but it was less than the other times she had cast it. It appeared that she was right. This was one successful first test. Obviously she had to test this several times to assure that her results were accurate. She pointed her wand to the dictating quill.

"Test one," she began as the quill obediently moved across the pages of the second book, under her other notes, "was an apparent success. The drain of the spell does seem to be less with the blood to bind it to the caster as theorized. Spell cast: Six Point Rune Shield Spell. At current energy levels, estimate six hours of maintaining this spell is possible. Note: only four hours was estimated possible with normal casting methods. Questions: Would more blood continue to strengthen the spell and the length of time to hold it? Or can some potion enhance the effect? What would happen if the spell and blood was combined into an object? Would that extend or lessen the length of time for the spell? Further Testing necessary." Turning off the quill, Tania released the shield. She had enough blood left to test it once more, then clean up and head back to Common Room before anyone else was back. Cleaning the floor of the last test, she began again.

* * *


	6. A Conversation with Alex and Blaise

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. I'm going to do my best to post a new chapter every Monday like RaineArilan. Here's the next one.

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"Tania!"

She froze, halfway to the safety of the stairs to the Dorm. She had been trying to get through unnoticed, and usually she made it. Still holding her books and schoolbag close to her chest, she turned to face the voice. Alex Bellmonte was seated at a table with Blaise Zabini.

"Come join us," she invited. Tania swallowed and frantically tried to come up with a good way to refuse, but after a few long seconds nothing came to mind.

"I was just going to get a book from my room," she said, quietly.

"Well, bring it back down and read here. Even if we're that boring, you should be able to read." Alex said, wryly.

"I-I wasn't trying to imply you were, Lady Bellmonte," Tania said, paling. Please say she hadn't insulted the older girl. Falcon would kill her.

Alex sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'm not offended, but I will be if you keep calling me Lady Bellmonte. That's my mother."

Tania nodded quickly, before anything else could be added, she said, "Alright, Alex. I'll be right back." She glanced at Blaise, who was twirling a quill in his fingers and yawning, and fled upstairs. Tania set her school books on the nightstand and knelt at the bottom of her bed and opened her trunk. Under her clothes were her personal books. She left the book she had been intending to read, _Runes and Dark Spells, _ with the rest and pulled out her copy of _Potions of the 13th Century_. Grabbing a roll of parchment and a quill, she hurried back down stairs. As much as she'd like to stay up here, she couldn't ignore a Bellmonte. Tania stepped off the last stair and hesitantly walked over to the table where the two friends sat. Alex was the first to notice her.

"Ah! There you are," she trailed off as Blaise jumped to his feet and pulled out a chair for her. Tania hesitated briefly, unused to such courtesy, then carefully sat down. Only once she was seated did he return to his own chair.

"What are you reading?" he asked kindly, his fingers finding the quill they had earlier and played with it again.

"_Potions of the 13th Century_," she responded in a low voice, making a show of laying out her parchment and quills to avoid looking at him. Eye contact was bad. Either it let someone see too much of what you were thinking and feeling or it turned into a war of dominance. She didn't want to start any of them.

"Really?" Alex leaned in towards Tania a little, apparently to look at the front of the book. "I've heard of that one but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. Will you let me know if it's any good once you finish? I'd love to borrow it off you if it is."

"Of-of course," Tania agreed, sending Alex a look out of the corner of her eye without thinking. How could Alex have never read this book? It was fundamental if one wanted to understand the proper uses of dragon scales and phoenix claw. Not only that, but the wizards of that time had come up with some amazing basic potions, especially considering the limited knowledge they were working with. What could Alex have found that was more interesting than this?

Alex grinned and raised an eyebrow. Tania realized that her look had been seen and struggled to keep panic out of her face. "Anyway," Alex changed the subject, "we were talking about Moody. I must say the bloody man bugs me."

"He's not even one of _those_ Professors. The ones that condescend us because we're Slytherin," Blaise explained to Tania.

Tania nodded, acknowledging the explanation, but not really agreeing with them. While Professor Moody wasn't one of _those_ Professors….

"You disagree?" Alex asked, interrupting her train of thought.

Tania paled, almost backing down. How dare she contradict a Bellmonte and a Zabini? Swallowing she answered anyway. "Yes. Well, I mean, maybe he's nicer to you older students..."

"He's not," Alex said flatly and Tania wondered what had happened in their first lessons.

"What _I_ meant," Blaise broke in, "is that, while he does condescend and poke at us, he seems to...to understand us I guess?" Blaise looked like he was at a loss for words. Tania inwardly smiled. At least she wasn't the only one who did that.

"_Those_ professors act out of a fear of an unknown, but assumed evil, while Moody knows what we are and what he's dealing with and acts according to that...so it's different even if the result is the same," Tania murmured to herself.

"Exactly!" Blaise exclaimed causing Tania to jump out of her skin. Her heart was beating wildly and she was prepared for anything to come flying at her or attack. She hated loud noises and being startled.

"That's it exactly." He continued, obviously not seeing the reaction his words had caused, "Ha! Beauty _and_ brains. I do believe she's the perfect woman, Alex." He reached over and took Tania's hands in his. "My dear, would you do me the honor of marry-OW! ALEX!" The blood, which had fled from her face before, instantly returned as her hand came in contact with Blaise. No guy had ever touched her on purpose, except for Falon…and Hunter.

Alex waved her wand at him. "Put the girl's hands _down_ and I won't have to hit yours again."

"Tania, he was joking," Alex assured the bright red girl. "Never, and I repeat _never_, believe a proposal from him unless it comes in the form of a letter from his grandmother with your parent's signature on the bottom as well. I would know from experience." Tania almost laughed, but only nodded instead. Like she was ever going to receive a letter for a marriage. She was going to live at the Manor for the rest of her life. The thought filled her with an endless despair, but she managed not to loose focus on the conversation around her. _That_ would have been horrible. Alex sent a pointed glare at the smirking Blaise. He rearranged his face for a moment and managed to look a little bit contrite. It didn't last long though.

"Besides, I think we've covered that she was too young for you. What about your familial duties?" Alex pointed out.

Blaise grinned. "Oh I believe I could work myself up to the task..." Tania almost lost the war with the desire to flee at that statement. Only Alex's quick response stopped her from leaving her chair.

"_Blaise_!" Alex yelled, pointing her wand at his nose. "Talk about Moody," she threatened.

"Fine. Fine. Just put your wand away." Once she'd complied, Blaise smiled. "I didn't know you were this into old men though, Alex m'dear."

Alex's hand dove back into her pocket and Tania flinched.

"Okay, OKAY! Tania, say something insulting about Professor Moody!" Blaise yelped. "Quickly, girl! I'm seeing my life flash before my eyes!"

"I...I..." Tania stuttered frantically, her mind drawing a huge blank. Any insults that she ever came up with were only ever thought in the quietest corner of her mind. Finally she spoke rapidly, not censoring what she said in a panic to give Blaise the answer he demanded.

"P-Professor Moody is an immature, idiot of a scum bag. His mother was an owl and his father was a Triverian maggot! He fornicates with his dust bins!"

Alex froze. "W-what?" she asked in a strained voice.

"Oh I think you heard her, Alex." Blaise commented. Tania knew her mouth was hanging open as she registered what she had just said. With a burst of wandless magic that a girl her age should not have been able to perform, Tania swept her book and papers into her arms with a wave of her hand and fled up the stairs, certain that laughter was following her up. What had possessed her to say _that_? She flew up to her room, dumped her books on the table and buried her face in the pillows until the shaking stopped.


	7. Talking to Professor Snape

A/N: I am sorry that this is late. I didn't have time on Monday and when I tried Tuesday, gave me trouble. Hope you like it. Reviews are always welcome.

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Tania stepped back farther into the safety of the dark alcove as the Fourth Year Potions class was released. The Gryffindors were running as if freed from a death sentence. Once all the red and gold had cleared the hallway, small groups of green and silver began to trickle out. They were in no rush and a few had even stayed behind to talk to the Professor. Tania saw Blaise and Alex leave together, followed by a very put-out Pansy, who was shooting daggers at Alex's back. A brief smile flickered across Tania's face. Alex had the best comments and Pansy never knew to leave her be. The other girl never won these contests of wills, because Alex refused to allow Pansy the possibility of victory.

Soon after Alex had disappeared around the corner, Draco Malfoy and his...minions? friends? Tania wasn't sure what to call them, but they all exited the potions classroom together. Malfoy said something and the other two laughed as they walked past her toward Common Room. Obviously none of them noticed her, they didn't even paused as they walked. A quick mental count assured her that the classroom was now empty, except for Professor Snape.

Fear kept her glued in place. What was she thinking, considering going to talk to Snape? He'd fry her or something. _Maybe not_, she countered, _He isn't like Father, remember? He doesn't seem to mind as much when your Year-mates ask questions. He doesn't scathe them the way he does the Hufflepuffs in the class. They never ask intelligent questions, only make him repeat something he's already said._

But what if her question was stupid? There might be an easy answer that was staring her in the face and she was just being dense. What if he got mad at her for trying to create her own potions? He had warned the class several times about the dangers involved in untested potions, though he was always really talking to the Hufflepuffs who had tried to 'improve' the potion assigned in class. She knew that new spells and potions were dangerous.

Tania shifted the book she had in her left hand to the right. She had already burned herself several times with this potion and didn't need to go stumbling around for who knows how long until she found something to balance it. Most of the normal balancing ingredients had been tried and wiped off her workroom ceiling. Sighing, she gathered what little nerve she had left and walked into the potions classroom.

As she had thought, it was empty of people. The desks and chairs were all neatly in place. The work surfaces were completely clean and just enough light filtered in to see by. At the other end of the room was another door. This one was open just enough to let a sliver of the room appear through it. Tania shook herself out of the daze she had been in and carefully made her way across the classroom. She was tense, ready to flee at the first hint of trouble. Once she reached the other side, she raised one shaking hand to the door and timidly knocked.

* * *

_Of all the classes this year, I think that was one of the worst ones yet._ Snape thought as he watched the last of the Slytherins leave the classroom. Straightening a few chairs with a violent wave of his wand, the Professor began to walk toward his desk. _I know Gryffindors have no hope of matching my Slytherins in wit, but perhaps they could actually **try** to think. Ms. Parkinson and Ms. Bellmonte displayed a wonderful example of Slytherin intelligence, but not control. Ms. Parkinson had the worst of it, though. The Bellmontes have always prided themselves on their control._

Collecting the homework that had been turned in, Snape left his classroom and entered his office. Leaving the door open a little, he settled behind his desk to grade the, more than likely, horrible homework assignments. After the one from Weasley, he could take no more. He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. What he wouldn't give for someone who could _understand_ potions. Ms. Bellmonte, Mr. Malfoy as well as several other Slytherins were competent potion makers, but to them it was just another subject to excel in, not an art.

A quiet knock sounded on the door. Leaning back in his chair and sighing, Snape glared at the wooden door that had betrayed him.

"Yes?" he growled out, insisting that the knocker identify themselves as well as the reason for interrupting his blessed few minutes of peace. There was a long hesitating moment. Then a voice spoke, one that was the very definition of timid.

"P...Professor Snape? It's T-Tania Dethart. I'm a Third Year...In your House..."

The Slytherin Head of House was greatly amused that his reputation had obviously proceeded him so well for that kind of reaction. The amusement was quickly toned down with the realization that he had failed one of his students. While he knew that he couldn't give every Slytherin the attention and care they deserved and would never get anywhere else, it cut him to the core to see that he had erred so badly with this one. She was obviously terrified of the one person who should be the only staff she could trust without question, the one who she could come to and find support.

Standing up and making his way over to it, Severus Snape gently opened the door. "Yes, Ms. Dethart?" he asked in a much calmer voice, "Is there something I can help you with?"

"I..." all the frustration, stress, and fear suddenly burst, "I can't get it right!" she wailed. Maybe she had imagined it, but Tania thought she saw the corners of Snape's mouth twitch as if he was fighting not to smile. The older Slytherin motioned with one hand into the room behind him. "Why don't you come in and we can discuss it?"

Tania nodded slowly and, holding her books tighter in her arms, followed her Head of House into his office. She hesitated, trying to decide which chair she was supposed to take. Snape appeared to see her dilemma and led the way over to a small table and two comfortable chairs that were set closer together. Calmly sitting in one, he waited for her to take the other. After she did so, a long silence fell in the room. Tania, having used up all of her courage in knocking on Snape's door, couldn't make herself actually speak again. Her mind keep coming back to the certainty that he was going to be so mad.

"Ms. Dethart… perhaps if I knew more about the situation I could offer some assistance," he commented in the gentlest tone she had ever heard from an adult man. Swallowing she nodded and pulled out the top book. Speaking a Latin word, the symbols on the front shifted to English. _Potions: Fire Related, Uses of Dragons Scales and Magical Enhancing._ The Slytherin Professor arched an eyebrow at the title and what it implied, but said nothing so as not to scare the child away. If she felt the need to convert her notes into another language, she was obviously afraid of someone disapproving of them or taking them from her. It also said something about her skill level. Dragon Scales were not even discussed until 5th year.

Slowly Tania opened the book and turned to the last third of it, mentally yelling at her hands to stop shaking. She had never shown anyone her notes, except for Hunter. These were her most prized possession and she had so few possessions anyway. Sliding the book closer to the Potions Master, she took a deep breath and began to explain.

"I've been trying to find a potion to enhance a larger magical working...I ...everything is right, I think, but the potion won't balance." She risked a glance at the other Slytherin. His face betrayed nothing as to what he thought of her daring. He slowly read the page, including the notes on the failed attempts to balance the mixture. Finally he nodded and looked at her.

"I am impressed, Ms. Dethart. You have done your homework and went about this in the proper manner. Obviously you are working far above your level, but it appears there is a gap in your knowledge. However," he added, seeing her face fall at the criticism, "it is one that I can correct. Since this potion contains both blue root of Kingston and Vervaine, you cannot use anything but three drops of ground gremlin hair and water. The consistency needs to be a three to one rate. The two ingredients you used react to create leftover acid…"

"Which can be counteracted with the water and gremlin hair which are both bases." She finished, her eyes lighting up as the rest of the potion became clear. "But where to find gremlin hair," she muttered, forgetting about Snape for a moment.

"I have some you may have, " that simple statement drew the girl back to her teacher, " on the condition that you report back to me the results of your potion." It surprised him that Tania paused before nodding.

"Thank you, Professor. I shall," she promised. He rose swiftly and retrieved a jar with the power she needed.

"Do not hesitate if you need anymore assistance. My door is always open for my House," he informed her. She gathered her book and the jar and stood.

"I understand," she said, quietly, "Thank you again." He watched as she beat a hasty retreat. He had much to think about. Apparently there was one of his students who understood potions as he did. It would be his next task to encourage her to come to him to explore that. This year might not be as boring as he had worried it would be.


	8. Repairing Falon's Damage

A/N: Wanna know a little more about the Dethart Family? This is your first peek. Have fun.

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Fire shot up her side with each step she took. Common Room seemed to be an eternity away and the exhaustion she felt only made it worse. Tania kept glancing behind her, causally to anyone watching, but she could not keep the worry out of her eyes completely. Either HE would come back and continue what he started, or blood would leak from her robes and stain the floor behind her. Neither one was acceptable. No one could know how weak she was. They would realize how badly the Sorting Hat had erred in placing her in Slytherin. She was really a Hufflepuff, but no one seemed to know that.

Two curious Hufflepuffs magically appeared at her thought and watched her as she passed. The drain of the Glamour Spells she had on to hide her injuries increased from the scrutiny. _Blasted idiots._ She was temped to blow them away, but that was too much of an effort. She settled for glaring at them and they left quickly enough.

Finally she made it down to the dungeons and to the entrance to Common Room. Taking a deep breath and summoning her remaining strength and pride, she entered, then slowly made her way down the stairs. Once she reached the bottom, she found Hunter across the room with Charlie and Mark. Tania saw Blaise and Alex off to one side, but walked straight for her brother. She couldn't afford the energy it would take to side track to those two.

"Hunter, may I speak with you a moment?" she asked, quietly. All three boys looked up at the sound of her voice, two different kinds of surprise on their faces. Charlie and Mark were surprised that she was talking to them. It took them a long moment to recall who she was.

Hunter was surprised that she was talking to him in public. He wanted her to, but she usually refused. Something must be wrong, he decided. That was confirmed in his mind as he saw the telltale blurring around the corners of her eyes that told him she had at least three different Glamour Spells active. Instantly he rose and took her arm.

"I'll be back, guys. Keep working while I'm gone." He said, and gently, but firmly, pulled Tania into a corner of the Common Room and shielded her from view. A few muttered words placed a Silencing Ward around them. She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed.

"How bad is it?" Hunter asked softly. "I can see the Glamour Spells and you look exhausted. What did he do?" Years of long practice kept the fury at their brother out of his voice. There was not trace of it. Tania always thought such rage was directed at her and Hunter would never cause her anymore pain then she already received. She glanced at her Eldest brother.

"He was just mad. No reason this time, as far as I know. M-my face is a mess and I think he bruised some ribs. They don't feel broken this time. Bruises, abrasions….he…he had a ring on his hand." She swayed and Hunter hurriedly caught her.

"Let's get you some place quiet. Can you make it down to the empty room on your own? I'll grab my bag and meet you there." He bore most of her weight. She weighted less and less this term. He would have to keep a closer eye on how much she ate. He couldn't bear to lose her. Tania was the only thing he had to live for.

"If you promise to come quickly, I can make it there. Hunter, everything _hurts._" The normal quiet, impassive tones were replaced by the voice of a child who was in pain and didn't know what to do about it. Hunter's eyes widened as he heard. Tania needed to find a isolated place quickly. She hardly ever acted her age, but on a few occasions of metal exhaustion she reverted to her actual age and sometimes even younger. She had no control over these times and would be mortified if her Housemates saw.

"I'll fix everything, ok Tani?" he asked, using her pet name on purpose. "You go down to the room and I'll come right behind you. I can make the pain go away and make everything better." She nodded with exaggerated care at his statement and began to walk slowly back toward the stairs to leave Common Room. Hunter quickly grabbed his books from the table without a word to his friends and flew up the stairs. In his dorm, the books were thrown on the bed and he knelt next to his trunk. Flinging it open, he dug around until he found a brown bag. Closing and locking the trunk, he ran back down the stairs and out of the House.

He caught up with Tania as she was turning the last corner before the empty classroom. He slid an arm around her waist, remembering to watch for the ribs. She flinched at the touch until she turned and realized it was him. Hunter held up the bag and she grinned in relief. Pulling open the door, he led her inside. After locking the door, Hunter settled his sister on a blanket and began pulling vials and salves out of the bag.

* * *

The two Slytherin Detharts made their way into the Great Hall and over to the right-most table. Ed and Miles slid aside to let Hunter and Tania sit down. Without saying a word, her brother piled her plate with about three times the amount of food she normally ate. He plopped it down in front of her before serving himself. The other boys were paying attention to her this time and traded smiles at the look of disgust that flashed across her face.

"Hunter," she ventured. He sat down, then faced her, arching an eyebrow. He pointed at her plate.

"All of it. I don't want to see another one of these dizzy spells you had this afternoon." The Elder Dethart skillfully admonished his sister and explained away his absence in one stroke.

Mark leaned over, still holding his goblet in one hand. The other hand held a fork with a piece of steak on the end, which he brandished under her nose. "He's right, you know. Don't want anything to go wrong when those invaders get here. We all need to be ready."

Tania couldn't decided who to bless with a scathing comment, her brother, who suddenly thought he had to order her life, or Mark, who was talking to her out of the blue as if he knew her. She concluded that Mark was the better one to deal with now. Hunter would make the connections if she yelled at him later. She didn't know if Mark was that intelligent.

"You're dripping steak sauce on my broccoli, Master Donavan "Mark" Baddock," she said, adding sarcastic air quotes to the word Mark.. Half of the Slytherin Table fell silent at her comment. Not only did she not speak in public, but no one normally spoke to Mark that way. The object of the retort refused to be offended, however. He grinned and moved his fork out of her way.

"My humblest apologies, milady. I was only concerned about the health of one of my Housemates," he brought forth the formal language used between purebloods. If she was going to converse that way, so would he. "May I get you another plate?"

"No, that will not be required." She inclined her head, "I appreciate your concern, though it is unnecessary. I will not disgrace our House when our guests arrive."

"I never meant to imply you would. One as charming as you is not capable of such an action." His gaze flickered to the other boys and broke out in a grin as they burst out laughing.

"I fear we must continue this at another time, my dear. The minor purebloods are getting restless." He glared at his friends. Tania did not answer, but nodded and returned her attention to her plate. Hunter decided that he needed to scold her more often if that was the reaction he got. A commotion from across the room caught the attention of the Slytherins. A group of Ravenclaws were yelling about something idiotic. Hunter's gaze was drawn to a figure sitting just to the side of the argument. When Falon Dethart saw he had his brother's focus, he smirked. Raising his goblet, Falon saluted Hunter, a challenge and a taunt. The cruel smile that twisted his mouth sparked a fury in the Eldest brother. Unfortunately, a Professor interrupted the fight and he lost sight of Falon.

* * *

Comments? 


	9. Hunter's Marauders

A/N: Sorry this was late. I don't get a lot of time on the computer. Ozalan: as to Falon, how did he get that way? You'll find out. And what makes you think their parents _don't_ know what's going on? evil grin And can anyone guess what project Tania ia working on? There are clues in previous chapters and there will be more. If you can guess, I'l...name a character after you or something. And Ril, you can't.

* * *

A light breeze playfully danced through the open windows of the hallway and wove itself and leaves into Tania's hair. She had most of it free of any constrains and it fluttered as the wind touched it. Fall had come to Hogwarts and had brought a restless energy with it. It was harder and harder for most of the students to sit still in class. It was even more difficult to pay attention. Tania found that she was not as immune to it as she had thought. Now it was Friday and the temptation to be outside was too much. The leaves were all changing colors and the temperature was perfect.

Exiting the upper hallway, Tania expertly pushed past the other students and out into the Courtyard. The stone entryway was packed with more students, who had claimed benches to read or goof off on. Groups of Housemates stood huddled together, though from a desire not to be trampled on as opposed to cold. Laughter, teasing, and conversation made quite a commotion and Tania decided to move on. Perhaps down by the Lake would have fewer people.

Halfway to the shore a group of Slytherins caught her eye. Actually there was a group of Gryffindors, followed by the Slytherin. All seemed to be headed for the Quidditch Pitch. Before she really thought about it, Tania found herself trailing after the older students. She did recognize Hunter as one of the Slytherins. More than likely the others were his gang of marauding pranksters.

The Gryffindors all had brooms, apparently they intended to practice, even though Quidditch had been canceled this year. It looked like some others had joined them, beyond those actually on the team. She spotted several of Potter's Year-mates walking with them. Poor Gryffies, they weren't likely to get much done with the Slytherins around, but it would be hilarious to watch. Tania decided that she needed to laugh. Falon was such a pain and he had been is a horrible mood the last few days. Picking up her pace, she ran down the hill after her brother, enjoying the wind on her face.

Hunter turned and gave her a smile as she drew near, though he didn't draw attention to her. He always seemed to know when she was around, even if she didn't want him to. Motioning for her to join them, he didn't miss a beat giving Charlie a caustic retort in response to his latest joke. The boys laughed and finished their trek to the Pitch, not caring that the Gryffindors had taken to the sky. They had all the time in the world, since the Gryffies had no idea they were coming.

Once they had settled themselves on to seats in the Slytherin section of the stands, the gang pulled out their wands and began their pranks. Idly handing Tania a pair of binoculars, Hunter shot his first spell into the air. A firework of green and silver appeared near the Gryffindor Chaser, forcing her to veer to the left. Charlie and Ed followed Hunter with a burst of shooting stars and lightning. Tania watched as flowers, animals, trees, Professors, and all manner of other objects manifested in the Gryffindors' air-space.

Soon all hope of a practice was lost. They could only concentrate on not hitting each other or the strange people and things that were somehow in the air with them. Half the flyers almost collided as a glaring Professor Snape swooped at them. The shrieks of fright and shock were too much for the Slytherins and they let loose the bubbling laughter that they had struggled to keep silent.

Several Gryffindors, including Potter, focused on the new sound. They made a beeline for the Slytherins, fury evident in every movement. Her Housemates ignored them. They were too busy enjoying their joke and only other Slytherins were any threat to them. Potter stopped a few feet from the stands. He scanned the group, then settled his gaze on Hunter.

"What are you doing?" he demanded. "We're practicing." Hunter schooled his face into one of mock seriousness. He looked at his fellow Housemates before turning back to the irate Gryffindors. One of the others responded before Hunter could speak.

"Practicing? Is that what you call it? Well, you had better 'practice' some more, since you seem to keep running into each other." Miles interjected smoothly. All of the boys maintained an air of gravity. Weasley flew close enough to catch the last comment. His face turned as red as his hair, though that might have been because he almost overshot his target stopping point and nearly lost his balance. Several of the Slytherins fought to keep straight faces.

_Time to take things in hand._ Tania decided. They would stand there forever, trading insults. That was only fun for so long. Slipping away from the group, she went down the stairs just long enough to be unseen by both sides. Hunter noticed she left, but would say nothing to betray her presence. He continued to bait Potter and the Gryffindors, both for his own amusement and to give her time to do whatever it was she planned. Tania never slipped away just to leave in the middle of something, only when all the action was done.

Pulling a piece of chalk from an inside pocket, Tania knelt on a landing between two staircases. She needed the largest area possible. Quickly she traced runes for power, strength, and anchor points into a spell containment circle. The symbols she needed flew easily into her mind and on to the wood. Putting away the chalk, she brushed the handle of her dagger and paused. Considering adding blood magic to the mix, she decided against it. Potter and the others wouldn't be anticipating what she was going to do and, unlike the other illusions, this one was something one expected on the Quidditch Pitch.

Placing her hands in the center of the circle, Tania activated each rune in turn, from left to right. Soon she had a ring of blue light surrounding her and could feel the extra power flowing under her fingers. Standing, and pulling the energy up with her, Tania faced the Pitch. Lifting her wand, she aimed for the sky.

"_Illusiona Bludgers Deca!"_ She summoned ten imaginary Bludgers speeding around the Pitch.

"_Harry! Look out!"_ cried Weasley. Other shouts were heard as the players scrambled apart.

"_Who released that many of them!"_

"_Watch out!"_

"_Behind you!"_ She smiled in victory, looking like a poster child for the Slytherin House. Deciding to stretch herself some, she added a second spell to her first one. Mindful to not loose control on the first one, she lifted her wand again.

"_Isolatee targette Gryffindors."_ She commanded. She felt the change in her first spell and knew that her balls were now focused exclusively on the Gryffindors, instead of just flying around. The noise increased, both the crying from the Gryffindors and the laughter from the Slytherins. The critical first few moments passed and the drain of the spells became easier as the Gryffindors truly believed that the Bludgers _were _ real. The laughter and teasing of Hunter's friends were worth any effort, even if they didn't know she had done it. For a moment or two, she felt connected to them, to her House. Right now, she believed that the Sorting Hat had put her in the right House.

Her triumph was cut short by a massive trembling of the earth and a brilliant light shooting in the sky. Dead silence fell as the world settled back to normal. Tania quickly ended her spells and smeared the chalk markings before scrambling up the stairs to see what was going on. Professor Moody was standing in the middle of the Pitch, his wand raised. All the Gryffindors were hurriedly landing. Her Housemates were watching all of the action without a word. Tania moved to Hunter's side.

"What's going on?" she whispered. He put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her back from Moody's gaze before she could be identified.

"He wants us all down on the Pitch." Miles answered as they began to file down the stairs. "He's insane enough that we'd at least go." No one else added anything as they made their way to the grass below.

"Stay here, Tania." Hunter commanded, as they hit the last landing, "You don't need to get caught up in our prank." She began to protest, when the others seconded her brother.

"He's right, you weren't involved."

"We're 5th Years, we can take it. You didn't do anything." They all rushed out before she could argue back. Moody was furious, so that even from her hiding place, she could hear him loud and clear.

"What is the meaning of this display? You are a disgrace, all of you! And you claim Slytherins are above the rest. You're nothing but bottom feeders, sucking enjoyment out of others pain. Don't think I don't know. You may fool the rest of the teachers, but _I've_ marked you. I know what you're all about. You can't get away with anything. Detention! All of you, a months detention!" He ranted, waving his wand wildly. The boys said nothing. There was nothing to say.

"Get out of my sight! I don't want to see you until dinner." He roared as they refused to move or be cowed by his yelling. The gang calmly walked away from the Quidditch Pitch, though Tania was seething as she watched them go. She was tempted to go blast Moody. Who was he to call her brother such things? And the others? They were all decent guys...for all they were guys. They were purebloods and deserved some respect. She began to plot ways to get back at Mad-Man Moody. Once the Gryffindors had left and the Pitch was clear, did she venture from her shadow. Hurrying back to Common Room, she was already rifling through books in her mind on appropriate spells to defend her brother's honor.

* * *

A/N: I know Moody was a somewhat out of character, but...shrug I didn't have time to fix it and I didn't want to wait anymore. 


	10. The Arrival of the Schools

A/N: Ok, here is another bunch of Snape-ness before the Arrival of the Schools. The second part is taken from Alex's story, but Tania has inserted her own thoughts on the matter, so read carefully. You can see how she feels about a few people. Enjoy.

* * *

Once again Tania found herself outside the Potions Classroom debating whether to enter or not. Classes had been cut short since the other schools were to arrive tonight. She should have been in Common Room or her Dorm preparing, like the rest of her House. It was useless, however, since she was always dressed to perfection. She didn't need extra time as the older girls seemed to. And she had promised Professor Snape that she would tell him how the potion worked. That decided her and she quickly entered the classroom before anyone saw her.

"Yes?" came the annoyed growl from the other side of the office door. Tania hoped that he would not be too mad when he realized it was her. Taking a deep breath she commanded her stomach to settle and her hands to stop shaking. Neither obeyed.

"Sir? It's Tania Dethart. M-may I come in?" she asked, relieved that her voice stayed steady except for that one little stutter. Maybe he hadn't even noticed it. He was a Slytherin after all, so he probably had, but it wouldn't be polite for him to mention it. There was a quiet pause, then the door was opened. Severus Snape stood on the other side. He nodded to her and motioned for her to take the same seat she had the last time.

Again, once they were both seated a silence fell over the office. Tania tried to get herself to talk. She had managed it last time. He hadn't yelled or anything, but her mind couldn't calm the fear that even though he hadn't before, didn't mean he wouldn't now. Men were unpredictable. Any little thing could set them off in fury, even things that hadn't bothered them before.

"Did you finish that potion, Ms. Dethart?" Snape asked, softly. He would coax the girl to speak. That she had come to him again convinced him that he had made some progress from the last time. It wouldn't do to scare her now.

"Yes, sir," she responded. Without further prompting on his part, she slid either the same book as before or an identical one onto the table top and opened it. The symbols shifted and she pushed it closer so he could read it. According to her notes, the balancing had been successful and the potion had worked as she had intended it to. Shyly, Tania reached into an inner pocket and slowly pulled out a potions vial. The green liquid reflected the candle light in the room as she handed it to him.

"I thought you might like some, Sir," she dared to catch his gaze for a moment as she spoke. Only for a moment, though, before her bravery gave out and she looked down. He gently took the vial and examined it in the light.

"Yes, Ms. Dethart, I thank you." He fought a smile as her face stained a light red. "This appears to be fine work," he continued, gauging her reaction carefully, "Well done." Tania could feel her cheeks burning, but she was so pleased that he liked her work. No one but Hunter said that and he was her brother, he didn't count. The _Potions Master_ liked her work. That was worth a million galleons to her. She saw Snape glance at a timepiece on his desk and stand. She hurried to follow.

"As much as I would like to continue this discussion, I am afraid that we must join the others in greeting our new arrivals. I will put this away for safe keeping," he indicated the potion, " and we shall go. You may leave your book here, if you wish. I promise it will be safe." The older Slytherin turned away to a shelf to deposit the vial.

She thought quickly. Did she trust Snape to leave her book here? No one would dare come and take it, but would he give it back to her? If it was in her note language, it would do him little good. And he had promised...but Falon also promised things...wait, there was no way she could compare _Professor Snape_ to Falon. The two were nothing alike.

She looked up to see Snape regarding her seriously, as if he knew the struggle she was going through. _How could he? Was that possible?_ He appeared to be waiting patiently for her to decided, though both of them needed to leave for the Entrance Hall right away. Without time to second guess herself, Tania nodded and placed her book in the center of the table.

"As long as you don't mind, I'd like to keep it here. It could get lost in the crowds upstairs," she responded, quietly. He nodded solemnly, heading for the office door an opening in. He gracefully motioned for her to proceed him into the classroom. Startled by this surprise gesture of respect, she was forced to meet his eyes again.

"It is no trouble, Ms. Dethart. It would be such a waste of good talent to let your work be misplaced or lost." He said, "Shall we go?" Nodding, she squared her shoulders and swept from the office, as elegant as any pureblood lady. He followed her out of his office and toward the meeting place.

* * *

Tania paused with Professor Snape on the last stair from the dungeons. There was chaos in the Hall, utter chaos. The Houses were grouped loosely together and the other Heads were trying to get their students under control. Professor Snape motioned for her to join the others as he strode toward the front of the group himself.

"Is this your best?" Professor Snape asked coldly, appearing before the gathered Slytherins. Somewhere around seventy pairs of eyes flew to glare furiously into his. That instant the Slytherins were in their lines. Tania easily slid into place between two of her Year mates.

Snape smiled thinly. "Better." He paused and his gaze flicked over them. She risked as small smile as Professor Snape's critical look passed her. She couldn't tell if he noticed. "Remember, this is _your_ castle. Trade insult for insult and courtesy for polite disdain." She could see and feel the agreement in the Housemates around her and felt a rare moment of Slytherin unity.

The entire human population of Hogwarts currently arranged to perfection on the steps leading into the school they settled back on their heels and waited. The evening was clear and cold, the sun and moon just beginning to exchange positions. Not a hint of anyone or anything arriving was evident. After several long minutes of patient silence some of the other students began talking among themselves.

Tania wished that there was someone to talk to or at least stand with. Hunter or maybe Alex, or Blaise even. As long as she stayed away from Malfoy. He was not someone she thought she could trust. Soon the talking of the other Houses grew loud enough for her to hear over the relative quiet of her House. That Weasley boy was talking about something...please Merlin, let it not be about what she thought he had said. How stupid did the boy have to be to think that...

"Can you imagine the logistics of setting up a PortKey that could bring that many people that distance at once?" Blaise's voice caught her attention. Since they were lined up by year, she realized that Alex and the others she had been wishing to be near were right behind her. Risking a glance backward, she determined that none of them noticed her and she freely listened in.

Draco scoffed in response to Blaise. "Worse still they'd be coming from under the magical protections of their school and landing underneath ours. That makes it nearly impossible."

"Not everyone knows as much as we do." Alex tempered slightly. "Just because _we_ know that PortKeys use the same network as Apparations, and that they work almost exactly..."_Did they?_ Tania thought, _Well that explains a few things… maybe that means..._

"Aha!" The exclamation interrupted her musings.

They all fell silent as the Headmaster started to speak. "Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches."

"Where!" a good portion of the student body asked in various level of volume, including a few over-excited Slytherin first years. No one else from that House showed anything more than polite interest in the proceedings. Tania followed the lead of the majority of her House. Besides, it wasn't like she really cared about the Tournament. It just meant more people to avoid.

"There!" someone else shouted, pointing out over the Forbidden Forest.

A huge shadow was hurtling across the deep blue sky toward the castle, growing larger all the time.

"It's a dragon!" shrieked one of the first years. A Hufflepuff, or maybe a Ravenclaw. _Yes, the entire delegation is coming a-dragon back. What fools!_

"Don't be stupid," a Gryffindor boy said, "it's a flying horse!" The gigantic black shape skimmed over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest and the lights shining from the castle windows hit it, they saw a gigantic, powder-blue, horse-drawn carriage, the size of a large house, soaring toward them, pulled through the air by a dozen winged horses, all palominos, and each the size of an elephant.

The first three years of students, those in the very front, drew backwards as the carriage hurtled lower, coming in to land at a tremendous speed. Tania was forced to move as the younger Slytherins scurried back. She wasn't afraid, there were many, many worse things reserved for that emotion. An enormous crash announced the landing of the carriage.

"Ow! Am I destined to be abused by idiots!" She heard Alex growl, "Watch yourself, Longbottom!"

The large blue doors, embossed with the school's coat of arms slid open silently, a boy in pale blue robes jumping down and unfolding a set of golden steps. He sprang back and the largest woman to ever grace the halls of Hogwarts made her appearance. The size of the horses and the carriage was immediately explained.

A few people gasped. Draco snorted. "Some people just make it easy to tell how pure their blood is," he muttered. Tania was forced to agree with him, though she was uneasy about thinking like a Malfoy in any sense.

"Any relation to Hagrid, d'you suppose?" Blaise replied.

His observation was never commented on because at that moment Dumbledore started to clap; the students, following his lead, broke into applause too, many of them standing on tiptoe, the better to look at this woman.

Her face relaxed into a gracious smile and she walked forward toward Dumbledore, extending a glittering hand. Dumbledore, though tall himself, had barely to bend to kiss it.

"My dear Madame Maxime," he said. "Welcome to Hogwarts."

"Dumbly-dorr," said Madame Maxime in a deep voice. "I 'ope I find you well?"

"In excellent form, I thank you," said Dumbledore.

"My pupils," said Madame Maxime, waving one of her enormous hands carelessly behind her.

A dozen boys and girls, all, by the look of them, in their late teens, had emerged from the carriage and were now standing behind their Headmistress. They were shivering, which was unsurprising, given that their robes seemed to be made of fine silk and none of them were wearing cloaks. They were all staring up at Hogwarts with apprehensive looks on their faces.

"As Karkaroff arrived yet?" she asked.

"He should be here any moment," said Dumbledore. "Would you like to wait here and greet him or would you prefer to step inside and warm up a trifle?"

"Warm up, I think," said Madame Maxime. "But ze 'orses – "

"Our Care of Magical Creatures teacher will be delighted to take care of them," said Dumbledore, "the moment he has returned from dealing with a slight situation that has arisen with some of his other – er – charges."

"My steeds require – er – forceful 'andling," said Madame Maxime, looking as though she doubted whether any Care of Magical Creatures teacher at Hogwarts could be up to the job. "Zey are very strong…."

"I assure you the Hagrid will be well up to the job," said Dumbledore, smiling.

"Very well," said Madame Maxime, bowing slightly. "Will you please inform zis 'Agrid zat ze 'orses drink only single-malt whiskey?"

"It will be attended to," said Dumbledore, also bowing.

"Come," said Madame Maxime imperiously to her students, and the Hogwarts crowd parted to allow her and her students to pass up the stone steps.

"Single-malts?" She heard Draco drawl just loud enough to be heard by the departing students, a heavy note of sarcasm in his voice, "how crude. Our stable is watered with nothing less than _pure_…" by that point the other school had gone completely and so Draco didn't have to finish his statement. He grinned. "I do believe that I made some of them blush."

"Of course you did." Pansy said, leaning in to join the conversation. "Their French. They'll be _easy_-"

A loud and eerie noise was drifting toward them from out of the darkness: a muffled rumbling and sucking sound, as though an immense vacuum cleaner were moving along a riverbed...

"The lake!" yelled Lee Jordan, the Gryffindor known for his highly biased commentary at the school's Quidditch games. "Look at the lake!"

From their position at the top of the lawns overlooking the grounds, they had a clear view of the smooth black surface of the water – except that the surface was suddenly not smooth at all. Some disturbance was taking place deep in the center; great bubbles were forming on the surface, waves were now washing over the muddy banks – and then, out in the very middle of the lake, a whirlpool appeared, as if a giant plug had just been pulled out of the lake's floor...

What seemed to be a long, black pole began to rise slowly out of the heart of the whirlpool...

"It's a mast!" Harry Potter proclaimed into the silence.

"Really, Potter!" Draco sniped, "It _is_!"

_What a _brilliant _observation,_ Tania thought dryly. Slowly, magnificently, the ship rose out of the water, gleaming in the moonlight. Finally, with a great sloshing noise, the ship emerged entirely, bobbing on the turbulent water, and began to glide toward the bank. A few moments later, they heard the splash of an anchor.

People were disembarking and slowly filing up to the castle steps. As they drew nearer their uniforms became visible in the dark. They were wearing cloaks of some kind of shaggy, matted fur. But the man who was leading them up to the castle was wearing furs of a different sort: sleek and silver, like his hair.

"Dumbledore!" he called heartily as he walked up the slope. "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?"

"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff," Dumbledore replied.

When he reached Dumbledore, he shook his hand with both of his own. "Dear old Hogwarts," he said, looking up at the castle and smiling in a way that did not hide his cold and shrewd gaze. "How good it is to be here, how good... Viktor, come along, into the warmth...you don't mind do you Dumbledore? Viktor has a slight head cold..."

Karkaroff beckoned forward one of his students. Tania was startled to recognize the boy Professor Karkaroff pulled forward. He was the famous Seeker. Tania couldn't play, but she liked to watch. Dumbledore lead the Durmstrang arrivals into the castle.

"Finally." Blaise muttered as the students were allowed to enter their own school. "I'm bloody frozen." She had to agree with him, though she didn't mind that like she had with Malfoy. It was rather cold, and she would be glad for a warm drink and the relative safety of her Housemates against these intruders.


	11. Blaise's Speeches

A/N: I bored everyone with the Arrivals of the Schools, I know, but I have some good news. I reread what Alex wrote about the Feast before the Start of the Tournament and I have decided that I don't need to put that in. So, on to the good stuff…..Blaise.

* * *

Like it was most afternoons, Common Room was quiet. Only the turning of pages or the mumbling of spell words interrupted the silence. Since it was a nice day, many of her housemates were outside. Some of them were certain to be hanging around the foreign students, allowing them to curry favor with the purebloods, but there were a few in Common Room actually studying. Tania was a part of this last group.

Spread out in front of her were quills, extra paper, equations, and other notes. She had her nose buried in her book. It was a long tome, describing the technical process of Apparating. It also explained some of the Apparation Network. A green and sliver bound book lay next to the tome, filled with her neat, careful handwriting. She was copying anything relevant into her book. It was half full, which was good. She needed to understand this expertly if she wanted to finish her Project.

_BANG!_

Tania was startled out of her study by the sound of books being dropped on the table right in front of her. Her quill tip broke as she jumped. Tania hurriedly looked up to see Blaise Zabini dejectedly sliding into a chair across from her with a dramatic sigh. The younger Slytherin frantically tried to come up with a reason that he would have chosen to sit with her. Alex was nowhere to be seen, but Blaise always knew where she was.

"My life is over!" he declared, "Unless you can save me." Tania stared at him for several long moments, then looked around quickly to see if Blaise was really talking to her. There was no one else nearby. She had chosen a secluded corner to work, out of the way of traffic. It seemed clear that Blaise _was_ talking to her.

"Can you believe that Alex abandoned me? For one of her…._Projects_." he continued. Alex was doing a project? Tania could understand how engrossing a project was. It tended to take up a lot of one's time. She seriously doubted, however, that Blaise was being truly abandoned. A Bellmonte abandoning an ally? A friend? Unthinkable. But, Blaise apparently wanted her to answer him.

"I'm sure she'll be finished soon," she ventured quietly. Blaise sighed again and put his head down on his books.

"No," he moaned, "She won't. She won't be done until after Hogsmeade. She has no care for my time, my efforts, my reputation, or my pocketbook. All of my plans are ruined!"

Tania once again glanced around the Common Room for anyone else who could help Blaise. She didn't know what to do. What did he want her to say? She didn't deal with boys. They were all bad news….except Hunter, but he wasn't a boy, like the others were. He was just Hunter.

"I'm sorry," she said, "Perhaps you can reschedule your plans?" There, a decent suggestion. Maybe now he would leave her alone. He would jump up and say, 'of course. I'll go right now.' and he'd rush away and let her to get back to her work. Unfortunately, Tania's dreams hardly ever came true, and Blaise, obviously, was not inclined to oblige her.

"No, no," he protested, "That won't do." He looked up at Tania. "You see I have reservations for two at Mistress Monocarp's Munchies. Those are _impossible_ to get. I had the whole weekend planned."

_Ok, you can stop looking at me now, _Tania ordered him silently_ You're freaking me out!_ What now?

"Can't you take someone else?" she asked. His eyes lit up and he grinned one of his most charming grins.

Suddenly he reached out and snatched her hand. "Why yes! Yes I can. And since you had that wonderful idea, it shall be you." He said it like a king bestowing a great favor, but with a grin on his face. "I shall take _you_ with me. Oh, please, my dearest darling Tania, won't you save me from this dreadful fate? It will mean ever so much if you would just say yes."

She froze and the blood drained out of her face. She didn't want to, but she did. Go with Blaise to Hogsmeade? Oh, that would never work. She couldn't put him at risk. Falon would…she shied away from that. How could she back down? If he would just stop holding her hand, she could think, but it would be beyond rude to pull free.

"I, um, Blaise, as much as I appreciate to offer…." Tania began, but was cut off.

"I knew you'd say yes! Besides, I don't remember seeing you at the last Hogsmeade weekend, and since you're a Third Year now, someone had better show you around. Wouldn't want you to get lost." He grinned again and the protest she had been intending to say, died on her lips.

"I didn't go to Hogsmeade last time. I stayed back with Hunter. He… didn't want me to go alone." She said, softly.

"Well, that settles it. You won't be alone, you'll be with me. I'll take good care of you… Maybe I should talk to Hunter, your very protective brother. Not that I mind, I understand completely." Suspicion grew in the back of her mind. This was a little too neat, a little too planned.

"What was the bet?" Tania asked. He looked puzzled, but then all Slytherins were good actors, it came with the territory.

"Bet?" he repeated, "Which bet are you referring to?" She sighed and gave him a Look. He knew what she was talking about.

"The bet about me." Tania clarified. He paused and seemed to seriously consider her statement.

"Bet about you? I bet on…with Malcolm and then there was that bet with Draco and Alex, but that one is over and, hmm… Nope, no bet about you," he replied cheerfully.

"You bet with someone about taking me to Hogsmeade." Tania said, disdaining him for his lies. Did he think she was that stupid? That she wouldn't have seen through him? Wait, could he be telling the truth? That was impossible… he wouldn't have just sought her out. No one sought her out except her brothers. But what if…

Slightly panicking now, since he still was going on and acting like he was serious. She couldn't think of what his motive was, but there didn't seem to be any way to find out. Tania tried to come up with anything that might stop him. She could tell Hunter to say no, but that was not honorable. She could get sick….oldest trick in the book. He'd see through that. Be forced to stay back… the only way she could think to do that was a detention., but Hunter would be disappointed in her and Father and Falon would be _furious!_ The youngest Dethart had a sudden burst of inspiration.

"What about Alex?" she asked, "Won't she object to me going with you? You two are best friends, after all." There, that might work….but no, Blaise was shaking his head.

"Ah, Alex won't mind. She isn't aware of anything once she starts a project. Besides, she likes you." Tania stared at him. Blaise stood, still holding her hand, and bowed over it.

"Thank you, I am forever in your debt." He released her and strode off, stopping briefly to speak with one of Malfoy's minions.

Tania sat frozen for several long moments. What had just happened? She didn't want to go to Hogsmeade with Blaise. That would make Falon that much more upset. But she couldn't say no to a Zabini. And what would Alex think? Tania couldn't hope that Alex considered her a friend, but Tania cared very much about what the Bellmonte thought of her. She would be heartbroken if Alex hated her. How could she get out of this! Nothing presented itself. How? How? _How!_ The pages of her book held no answer to this problem.

* * *

Hunter Cornelius Marcellus Pierpont Fitzgerald Dethart ran his fingers through his dark brown hair and stared at a complex formula. Tania said his hair was dark chocolate with hints of black, but he just called it dark brown. He never protested, though. It was his duty as an elder brother to indulge his sister's whims, and Merlin knew, she was never indulged by anyone else, not even Mother, for all she might want to.

Returning his wandering thoughts to the page in front of him, Hunter tried for the sixth time to understand it. There were small isolated pieces that he could recognize, but the overall process was way beyond his 5th year knowledge. He couldn't figure out what the purpose of the spell was. The pages that came before and after this one were just as confusing and didn't provide any clues as to what his little sister was trying to do.

This was Tania's book. She had a million of them, all identical, green and silver bound, each one covering a different subject or set of subjects. Hunter was still uncertain of exactly what her organization method was. Tania had hurriedly shoved this one into his hands the other day when Pansy had suddenly joined them. His poor sister had been scared senseless for several seconds, unable to respond to Ms. Parkinson's questions except to blink. Hunter had been quick to cover for her until she could regain her thoughts. Tania hated to be startled.

The other Slytherin girl had been cordial, though Hunter had picked up on a few flashes of uncertainty in Ms. Parkinson's face. She seemed nice enough, all things considered. Maybe Tania had made another friend. Two in one term. Hunter smiled as he reflected on that. First Alex Bellmonte, now possibly Pansy Parkinson. The Elder Dethart was pulled back to the present by someone approaching him. Closing Tania's book and hiding it in his bag, he turned to the newcomer and came face to face with Blaise Zabini.

"Mr. Zabini…can I help you with something?" Hunter asked.

"How very Gryffindor of you, Mr. Dethart, but this is not the time for insults. You see, Hunter…I want your sister."

Luckily for Blaise, Hunter knew not to take everything he said at face value. Blaise…was dramatic. "Care to try that again?" he asked calmly.

Zabini's whole manner changed as he stiffened, fixing Hunter with a frigid glance. "No, now that you mention it, not really." He flashed his companion a smile that was not entirely pleasant. "Might I ask you, whether it offends you or not, what your views are on hitting women?"

Hunter's entire thought process stuttered to a halt. "Excuse me?"

"Well, you see," Blaise began, his expression thawing somewhat, "for some reason, Alex likes you. So I decided to give you the benefit of the doubt that you aren't simply an older, more Slytherin version of Falon the Annoying."

"I think that is the least accurate insult I have ever heard directed at my younger sibling," Hunter mused, "Though I do agree, he is annoying."

"I was merely trying to be polite Mr. Dethart. I assure you there are quite a few other _lovely_ insults I'd be more than willing to level at your younger brother."

"Oh, really?" Hunter asked, a thread of steel creeping into his tone, "Like what?"

"I have no proof, not enough to satisfy myself, and certainly not enough to satisfy Alex's curiosity, so I think I'd rather not say."

"Please, sit down Zabini," he gestured to the chair across from him, "And you may certainly 'say' without fear of offending me…at least about Falon."

Blaise complied and lounged across the appropriate chair. "Well then," he smiled with the utmost politeness, "I say that I think your brother is a sadistic bastard."

"I'm afraid I can't confirm that for you, so what's this about Tania?"

"Your darling sister has insisted that I obtain your permission before she'll agree to accompany me during the next Hogsmeade weekend."

"I see."

"Yes, I thought perhaps she might need someone to show her around. At least that's my theory as to why she stayed at Hogwarts during the last trip. Anyway, I had already been abandoned by all of my friends, so I thought…perhaps us loners…could go…" Blaise trailed off as the words 'I will _kill_ him' wrote themselves briefly across Hunter's face. There was a moment of strained silence.

"When you kill whoever it is you're apparently planning on killing, can I help? A good murder offsets the monotony of just torturing people all the time, dontcha think?"

"I'm sorry but no. When the time comes it will be my prerogative."

"If there's anything I can do to help, let me know."

"Just make sure she has a good time on Saturday."

"You have my Word."

"I had better," Hunter warned. "Remember, Zabini, she's my little sister. _My_. _Little_. _Sister_."

"I'll remember, Dethart. I doubt there's much of this conversation I'll forget." Blaise stood and offered his companion a half-bow. As he turned away Hunter added one more word, one more, exceedingly important, possibly life-altering word.

"Peppermint."

"Excuse me?"

"Peppermint. Tania's favorite candy." Hunter clarified.

"Ah." Blaise grinned. "well, thanks for the tip. I'll make sure to buy her the entire Peppermint corner of Honeyduke's."

"She'll never accept it."

"Oh I'll think of some way to convince her…without making her feel bad." Blaise added soothingly.

The older brother laughed. "Good luck."

"Somehow I think I'll need it."

"You will."

"Thanks."

_Actually_, Hunter thought after Zabini had gone, _when Tania finds out I didn't get her out of this it'll probably be me who'll be in need of luck._


	12. Hogsmeade

A/N: Sorry I didn't get this up on time. It is, however, the longest chapter I've ever posted in any story, over 4000 words. Enjoy.

* * *

Tania picked at her breakfast, her mind whirling to come up with something to get her out of this trip. Well, most of her mind was. There was a small, rebellious part that wanted to go and be with Blaise. That part admitted that she liked him, that he was cute, but that part didn't get much attention. It was almost too late, it was Hogsmeade morning. Laughter caught her attention. Mark was laughing at something Hunter said. _Traitor. How could you do this to me?_ He could have forbidden Blaise to take her, but no, he had done the opposite. She was not speaking to Hunter at the moment, but he didn't seem to notice. 

People around her began to leave in small groups. It was time for one last desperate escape. If she could make it to the Girls Dorm before Blaise found her, she was home free. No matter how sneaky he was, even Blaise Zabini couldn't get up to the Dorm. That decided her and Tania finished the last of her juice as she stood. Glancing around for her target she made her way out of the Great Hall. In the press of people, she couldn't see him. Suddenly a boy was standing right in front of her. Beyond she could see the stairs leading down to safety. She glanced up and identified Blaise, but couldn't make herself look him in the face so her gaze settle around his chest.

"Ready to go?" Blaise asked cheerfully. At least he hadn't caught her ditching him. He seemed to be completely oblivious to it.

Could she just dash around him and down the stairs? No, her honor would never allow it. "Sure," Tania said quietly.

"Good. Cloak!" A warm black cloak popped into existence at his command. Tania resigned herself to one very long day. Biting back a sigh, she held out a hand to take the garment. Smoothly Blaise helped her into it and she froze. He was... being a gentleman. No one did that. Tania had always done such things herself. Father had never even allowed the House Elves to get a cloak for her. If she wanted something, she got it herself.

On top of that, though, Blaise was also inside her personal space, and she fought with the massive desire to hit him and run as far as she could. He seemed to not notice her panic and bowing slightly, he offered her his arm. After a long minute of debate she laid hesitant fingers on his wrist half afraid they would burn on contact and allowed him to lead the way out to the chill fall day.

* * *

Hogsmeade was everything she had imagined and more. Everything was better in real life, especially to witches. The magical Auras of the town itself were a rainbow of sensation that Muggles would never understand. The magic, the sense of history, was amazing. It was a crisp fall day and Tania was very glad of the cloak Blaise had given her. The two Slytherins joined the crowds entering the main street through Hogsmeade. 

"Where do you want to start?" Blaise asked, breaking into her survey of the buildings.

Tania shrugged and tried to affect a little more unconcern, though it was really hard. "I don't know. What do you suggest?"

Blaise pointed to a larger building on their right. "Why don't we start in Honeyduke's and work our way from there. Maybe Zonko's, the Theater, and something else quick before lunch. How does that sound?" She nodded and they began to make their way out of the center of the street.

Honeyduke's was crowded, but no one seemed to mind. Every centimeter of every wall and counter was filled with candy and sweets. Tania had never seen such amounts of candy and didn't eve recognize most of the wrappers. She inhaled and the mix of chocolate, caramel, and sugar was heavenly. It took massive effort, but she managed to mostly keep her composure, at least she thought so. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Blaise grinning. Tania couldn't tell if he was amused by her or the candy, he was a boy after all. The press of bodies became greater and forced her to take a step closer to Blaise.

_It's crowded in here. I'd better stick closer to Blaise or I might lose him with all these people._

_Yeah, right. You just want to stick close to Blaise to be close to Blaise. Admit it! You like him. _

Tania inwardly glared at her rebellious self. _No. He's a Housemate and he's being nice, but that doesn't mean I like him...there's no point. You can't compete with a Bellmonte._

_What does a Bellmonte have to do with this?_

_Blaise only asked me because Alex couldn't go. Do I have to spell it out for you?_ Her mental conversation was interrupted as someone shoved into her. Tania lost her balance as a small scuffle broke out between a Hufflepuff and a Ravenclaw. She felt herself being steadied.

"Have you no respect?" Blaise's voice was cold and haughty. Both fighters paused and turned toward the sound. "Brawling like Muggles, which, for all the magical aptitude you've shown since coming to school, you might as well be..." He arched an eyebrow, staring down his nose in utter disgust. "Disgraceful. Now, I believe you owe the lady an apology for daring to disturb her."

Tania mimicked Blaise's tone in her facial expressions. She may be the invisible Slytherin in her House, but she was still a Slytherin and a Pureblood. Besides, this was fun! She liked having the upper hand for once, even if it was Blaise's doing. One day, she promised herself, she would be able to do this on her own. The other two glared at Blaise and stayed silent. The crowd was silent also, waiting to see who would win the showdown. Blaise continued to stare at the other boys, clearly waiting to be obeyed. Soon the whole store fell silent. Who would break first? The shopkeeper pushed his way through the students until he was beside the staring contest. It seemed now they would never know who would win.

"Boys, you do owe her an apology. You almost knocked her over." The older man was firm in both tone and gaze. The Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff looked at the ground and then mumbled apologies. They slipped away into the crowd and the noise picked back up.

"I apologize as well. I should have been watching more closely." Blaise said, losing his 'outside of House' mask.

Tania shook her head and gave him a small smile. "No need. I wasn't paying attention either." She was going to drop it, but Blaise was shaking his head now.

"No, it was my fault and I insist that I make it up to you." Blaise lead her over to one counter. On it were piles and piles of all shapes and sizes of peppermint. "Please, allow me to buy you some. I would be forever shamed if you refused."

Tania considered trying to refuse without shaming him, but he seemed really intent. He must really like peppermint or something. She was realizing that it was pointless to argue with Blaise, at least for the little things. It saved her a headache and gave her a small advantage in the bigger things. Besides, it was a matter on honor. She understood those. "Alright, Blaise, thank you. Choose what you will." Blaise shot her a grin and began to pull together candy...lots and lots of candy.

* * *

"So that was Honeyduke's. Where to next?" Blaise asked as they emerged into the sunlight and the wind. Tania now carried a very large bag with the words Honeyduke's Candy chasing each other on it. Both of them pulled their cloaks a little tighter. 

"I don't know anything here. You chose." She offered.

"Well, since you say so...on to Zonko's."

* * *

An hour later, and another bag of stuff, they entered their third building of the day, the Post Office. He informed her it was a good place to know, especially if one had sensitive letters to send. Tania didn't really argue. She was more concerned with how Blaise had managed to talk her into letting him buy her a bag of prank supplies from Zonko's. She hadn't intended to agree, but he had talked so fast and his logic was twisted and she had said yes before she'd realized it. 

"Here, come this way. I've something to show you." Blaise called from a doorway. Tania pulled herself back to the situation before her and walked over to the new room. She couldn't fight a grin as she saw what was inside. Zipping around the room were dozens of small and really cute owls. They were little balls of fluffy feathers and no girl has ever been able to ignore that. The owls circled them, hooting inquiringly.

Blaise's hand shot out and he ensnared one of the fluffy projectiles. There was a startled squawk as its flight was suddenly halted, followed by double glares as the bird turned its head to its captor.

Tania chuckled, "Aw, poor bird. I'm sure that wasn't fun." She accepted the little bundle from Blaise and softly stroked it's head. "Beautiful. You are a cute thing." The owl's disgruntled stare began to soften as Tania petted it. The other owls began to land on Tania's shoulder or circling closer to get some of the praise or petting.

After a few minutes, Blaise came to her rescue and started freeing her from all her new friends. Soon she only held the one original owl, which she released. The two of them made their escape from the room and went back to the main room of the Post Office.

"Well, now that the swarm is gone, shall we go?" he asked, motioning toward the door. She nodded and followed him out, debating on whether she should pick the owl feathers out of Blaise's hair. When he received a strange look from a Gryffindor passing by, she knew she had to act. It was a matter of personal and House pride. Tania touched Blaise on the shoulder to make him stop and reached up to grab a feather out of his hair.

He frowned. "What are you doing?" She held up the feather and his eyes widened. Quickly he ran his fingers back and forth through his hair. Several more feathers fell out.

"I don't think owl feathers are in this season," Tania drawled.

Blaise shot her a grin. "I can make them in season." He pointed to the Theater. "Let's check the times before we head anywhere else."

They walked over and scanned the show listings in front of them. There weren't any shows until this afternoon. Tania hadn't heard of any of the performers or the show, but she didn't tell Blaise that. He seemed to be lost in thought for several long moments. The sensation of being watched filled her and Tania risked a glance behind her. Standing on the other side of the square was Falon and a few of his friends. He was watching her, he had found her. The older brother smirked when he noticed she was watching him back.

_Oh holy hell,_ she thought, _ I knew this was a bad idea. Hunter, if Blaise gets hurt, I blame you_. She shivered at the thought of Blaise with Falon. Next to her Blaise stirred.

"Are you cold?" he asked Tania kindly, smiling at her.

She nodded yes but said quietly, "N-no, I'm fine." Yeah, let him think it was just cold. The wind had picked up while they had been standing there, but she had hardly noticed. Now it was Tania's turn to come back from spacing out as Blaise lightly, slowly, and _very_ gently slid an arm around her shoulders.

"Let's go get warm," he said, "We're both frozen in our steps _and_ I, at least, am starving." She nodded as that rebellious part of her mind shouted for joy. The rest of her prayed that Falon had somehow missed it, knew that he hadn't.

* * *

It was blessedly warm and Falon-free. Both were equally important right now. A mixture of smells and sounds wafted at them as they were lead to a table near the door. This was also a good thing, in Tania's mind. It meant that they had to keep their cloaks on, which meant it would be harder for her brother to find them, should he come in here to search. 

"Is that better?" Blaise asked as they sat down. She nodded, still thinking about her brother. Maybe it would be better to come up with a reason for Blaise to take her back to school. He'd be safe there, until she could talk to Hunter about what to do now.

"So, do you have anything in particular you wanted to try?" Blaise asked, picking up his menu. "Everything here is good, I can vouch as I've eaten it all at least once." Tania shot him a look. _Really? He's eaten everything?_ Apparently, Blaise wanted to talk, since he kept going.

"Oh yeah. First off, the Dragon Steak. It isn't real dragon. I know. I've _had_ real dragon. It _is_ a really good try though, so if you aren't sure you want to try actual dragon it's a good place to start. The 'House Sauce' _is_ a little spicy, but you can always ask for regular barbeque if you want it a little milder."

Tania had only been partially listening as her mind whirled with plans and plots. Now that he had been spotted, every part of her hummed with the knowledge that danger was close. Blaise's last comment, however, had felt like a challenge, and she reacted accordingly.

"Spicy is fine." She replied. It was subtle, the response to the challenge, but Tania always used subtle if she could. Blaise must have picked it up though, 'cause he grinned. Tania's respect for him grew a little. He was as smart as he didn't appear to be.

"It's good either way. Just don't drink Butterbeer right after you take a bite. It'll cool your mouth like adding pure alcohol to a campfire will put it out." He grinned ruefully. "I know. I've tried it."

Tania snickered, not at Blaise per se, but at the sudden image of Falon with his head afire. The shock of flame coming out of his mouth and ears, then catching his hair was hilarious.

Blaise sniffed dramatically. "Yes, yes. _Do_ go on and laugh at my pain. How I enjoy it so." She couldn't help it. She laughed. Blaise's comments and Falon's image were too much for her. Tania was smart enough to keep her menu in front of her.

Deciding that she wouldn't let Falon ruin her day and that Blaise had worked hard enough to see past her masks for a little while, she retorted, "Yes, you poor boy. _So_ abused."

"Really." Blaise insisted pitifully. "I am. Will _you_ be the one to save me from this cruel world and the women in it?" _What a drama king! He should be in theater. _

"And if I do…who will save the women from you?" Tania asked, teasing him as she would Hunter. It was different and freeing. It was nice to allow her quick mind to have a work out. And Blaise seemed able to keep up well.

"Alas!" he clutched his heart. "You have wounded my soul, but I cannot deny your claims. Come dearest! Make an honest man of me! Marry me!" That froze her in her mental tracks. That was untouchable grounds, especially for her. She risked another glance around, relieved to see that Falon had still not shown his face. What he would do with that comment!

She tried to get back in the teasing mood, but it wasn't as easy as before. "Make an honest man of yourself _then_ ask me. You might like the results better."

"Uh," Blaise said after a pause, "I recommend the Griddle Ribs. They come however you like them, with half a dozen sides _and_," he reached over and tapped a picture with one finger, "this lovely _awesome_ chocolate…dessert…thingy."

Tania fought back another grin. Trying to distract her with chocolate. That probably usually worked. Alright, she'd let it go.

* * *

Tania decided to keep track of how many glares she received as they entered the theater. Blaise had his Pureblood mask back on and was shoving his way through the crowds. She shot the glarers pointed smirks as she threaded her way behind Blaise. There were very few open seats visible, but that didn't seem to bother Blaise in the least. 

Making his way to the front row, he pointed to a pair of seats right in the middle. Offering a hand, he lead her down the row adding his own sneering grin to hers as those in the second and third rows became more and more agitated. The front row was only half full, with the rest of the seats reserved. Most of the students considered the second row to be the first, since they could never get tickets for those seats. Now two Slytherins were joining the adults who were already in the front row.

Once they were seated and Tania had stowed her bags, she leaned over to Blaise, "They are _so_ hating us now."

He grinned back, "Of course. That's the way it should be." He frowned as popcorn hit the back of his head. Blaise stiffened and started to turn around. Tania grabbed his arm.

"Wait," she hissed, "Let me." Blaise shot her a startled look, but didn't finish his turn. Tania pulled a mirror out of a pocket, obviously to check her makeup, and watched as more popcorn was thrown in their direction. Marking the culprits, she muttered several spell words. Screams of surprise and fear issued from behind them and the popcorn stopped. Satisfied, she closed the mirror and smiled at Blaise.

"Well done. I'm impressed," he said, "and I am in your debt."

"No, no, we are not starting that again. I had fun doing it and that's the end. No debts." She waved a finger in his face and he grinned again.

"As you say, milady." The lights dimmed as the curtain rose and the show began.

* * *

Purple smoke filled the stage as the show continued. It was an amazing mix of magic and showmanship and Tania was enthralled with it all. She had never seen such an act. The only theater she had ever seen was the fall asleep kind. An explosion went off right in front of the two Slytherins and Tania instinctively grabbed Blaise's hand. Once the fear had passed she blushed and took back the offending fingers. 

"Sorry," she whispered.

Blaise grinned and leaned over, "Don't worry, I don't mind." The show set off another explosion and they both laughed at the Hufflepuffs' screaming. Soon the purple smoke was replaced by green. Tania inhaled and automatically started identifying the ingredients.

"Kelp juice…no _powder_, anleberries, liquid maple bark and...and" she muttered under her breath. What was that last compound? Something for color, since those other three ingredients would never make green.

"Zinc Corbamine," Blaise whispered, not taking his eyes off the stage. She smiled, that was it! Zinc Corbamine was exactly right. But...why did Blaise... She risked and inquisitive glance. He caught her look and smiled.

"What?" he whispered, "You think you're the only one who does that?" She shook her head and they both returned their attention to the show.

* * *

The two Slytherins emerged into the sunlight, blinking rapidly. Tania still had her two bags and the owl feather from Blaise's hair. Now she added a program from the theater, the signatures of several of the performers and a vial of green smoke. Blaise had taken her backstage to meet the actors and the stage crew responsible for the visual effects. It had been amazing to see. 

"So," Blaise drew her attention back to the current situation, "anyway, we've covered, Zonko's, Honeyduke's, the Post Office, the theater, the 'Museum of Hogsmeade stuff', and lunch or, as I dis-like to call it, Mistress Monocarp's Munchies. All that's left is, the Shrieking Shack, Madame Pudifoots, if you make me, and all of Supply Street. We've got maybe one more stop before curfew, where do you wanna go?"

"Wherever. It's up to you."

"Well, we _aren't_ going to the 'Great Black Hole of Lace' if I have anything to say about it and it'll be _cold_ up by the Shack by now. So let's jog down Supply Street on our way back to the Castle and you can tell me if anything inspires drool." Nodding decisively, Tania headed for Supply Street.

* * *

Tania slowly climbed the stairs to her dorm. _I can't believe I not only helped Draco Malfoy, but I did it without knowing what was going on._ The image from lunch suddenly, and oddly, came back to her and the amusement was enough to get her the rest of the way up the stairs. Reaching her bed, Tania flopped on it face first. Nap...what a magical, perfect word. 

"Wow! You made quite a haul," the voice filtered into her brain and she decided that she'd better answer. Rolling over to see the rest of the room, Tania spotted the other girls in her year.

"Yeah, I guess I did." She responded. That seemed enough of an invitation because suddenly there were five bodies plopping on her bed. Someone pulled the cloak off her and threw it on top of her boots.

"So, tell us all about it. What did you do?" Faith Cromwell asked.

"We hung out…um, and had lunch," Tania ventured.

One of the twins, Laura Montgomery, sighed. "Look, Tania, we know you don't have any sisters and we've been trying to show you for the past two years. But obviously you're not getting it, so I'll explain. We talk about _everything_. We want details, so spill!"

Tania hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Ok. We went to Honeyduke's and Zonko's as you can see. Blaise somehow convinced me to let him buy me this stuff. We had lunch and saw the theater show and went by Supply Street." Her face broke out in a huge grin at the image of Blaise sneezing uncontrollably.

"Come on, what's that grin for?" Rachel Ileum demanded.

"Well... Blaise inhaled some powdered feather fern." She explained. The girls exchanged blank looks.

"So?" Christina Asia asked.

"So... Humans are really allergic to powdered Featherfern. It makes them sneeze." All the girls broke out laughing as they made the connections. "His whole body shook. I had to find some Downis to make him stop."

The laughter picked up again. The dorm door opened and Tara Cromwell and Veronica Asia, Christina's older sister, stuck their heads in.

"Everyone have a good time, then?" Tara asked. The third years related the Blaise and the Featherfern story. The two seventh years exchanged looks.

"That's Zabini for you," Veronica said, "hilarious." The older girls said good night and left. A comfortable silence fell over the dorm.

"And that's why you confuse me, Dethart," Liana, the other twin remarked. Everyone looked at her.

"Oh? How so?" Tania asked, confused herself.

"You know all this stuff, like the Featherfern. Things a fourth year didn't know. Or Moody's questions in class. You always know the answers. And Professor Snape watches what you do very carefully." She paused, then added quietly, "But your grades don't show that and none of us knew it until now." No one spoke for several long moments.

"I can't," Tania finally admitted, "There is a very good, but secret reason why, but I can't. I can't appear any smarter than anyone else."

"Ok," Faith said.

Tania looked startled. "Ok? Just ok?" she repeated.

"You can't tell us, ok... but do you think you can explain Friday's Defense homework?" Faith's cheek's tinged red. A grin lit Tania's face.

"I can do that... tomorrow. Right now, I need your help. All the girls clustered in and Tania upended the Zonko's bag. Dumped its contents onto the bed. "Blaise tricked me into letting him buy all this stuff and I need to pay him for it." She ducked her head a little and bit her lip. "So…wanna help?" she asked shyly.

"Of course."

"How dare he trick you!"

"We'll get him."

"Oh, we'll get him _good_!"

Giggles followed the round of declarations and then the plotting began.


	13. Night Studying and 1st Challenge

A/N: Ok, this is the last chapter before the beginning of the Yule Ball setup. I know Arilan has ben waiting forever to start it. Enjoy.

* * *

She had finally hit a wall and it was time to do something about it. Books and articles could only do so much when compared to hands-on experience or research. Tania lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling. She had her hands tucked behind her, trying to puzzle out one of the more interesting and complicated pieces of her project. If she could just figure this out, everything else would fall into place… or at least she hoped they would. Problems often kept Tania awake at night, her mind whirling with information and nonsense. Some of the things she thought about were utter lunacy, until two weeks or months later when it would suddenly make sense with some other bit of insanity.

Sitting up with a sigh, she pulled back the curtains of her four-poster and placed her bare feet on the rug below. She wasn't going to get anymore sleep tonight, at least until she settled some of these questions she had. Quietly making sure her Year-mates were still sleeping, Tania found a robe and walked over to the offending problem. Her trunk stood at the end of her bed and it was the source of her current dilemma. How? How did her trunk work? Grabbing her wand, she levitated the chest and began to walk down to Common Room.

A fire created shadows that danced on the stone walls. It brought some warmth to the otherwise cold room. Since it was the middle of the night, there was no reason to keep this room warm. Professor Snape knew his House well, though. Slytherins were often nocturnal in habit, so made sure they would be comfortable. Settling into an out of the way corner that was hidden from all entrances into Common Room, Tania opened her trunk and began to pull out everything in it. Books, school supplies, a few spare robes, and a letter from her mother were soon in a small pile next to her.

Tania found her wand again and began to probe the inside of the trunk. Something had to have the answers. Detections spells revealed nothing. Examination spells provided a little information, but none of it really useful. Growling at the offending object, Tania just stared at it, trying to _WILL_ it to give up its secrets.

Suddenly the sound of laughter echoed in the room. Tania's heart dropped as the rest of her froze. Someone was coming to take her work! Someone was going to destroy it! Hurriedly looking around, the Slytherin girl spotted Alex Bellmonte having obviously just come down from the Dorms.

"Hi, Tania." The older girl began to walk closer. "Sorry about laughing. But the look on your face…I'm guessing a Project isn't going the way you've planned?" Project… That's right, Alex had her own Projects. Surely she'd understand better than most. Tania forced herself to relax. It's not like she could just attack her or something stupid like that.

"No. Uh…I mean you're right." She responded, her mind going back to the problem at hand and remembering how annoyed she was. That trunk! Why oh, why was this so hard for her to understand? Everything else was easy… usually. Alex dropped her bag on the closest couch and returned Tania's attention to her.

"Do you mind if I join you for a bit? I have some extra work I need to get done…_out_ of sight."

"Of course." Tania could not politely turn her away, though she would have to be careful to make sure Alex saw nothing. Glancing at her notes to make sure they were still there, Tania resigned herself to company. She liked Alex, that was certain, but she didn't even like Hunter around when she was working.

"Never fear, my dear. I won't peek at your notes…though if you _do_ need some help with whatever it is in your trunk that has you stumped feel free to ask." Tania looked up. She must have shown her emotions on her face again. She was surprised that Alex was able to pick up things so quickly about her. The other girl seemed to be able to see right past all her walls. Not that Tania was going to take help. She was a Slytherin.

"Thank you." she refused politely and turned back to her trunk. Alex seemed to accept that She pulled a book and some paper from her bag and settled on the couch without another word. Both girls worked in silence for a while. Tania was still having no luck dealing with her rebellious trunk.

"Oh, bloody blustering…" Tania realized that she was swearing out loud and trailed off, so as not to disturb Alex. It would be beyond rude. What was she going to do now? She had run out of ideas, but she wouldn't be able to sleep yet.

_You could ask Alex._

_No, that would mean that I would have to tell her what I'm doing._

_Maybe not. Besides, you don't have any other ideas._

Tania coughed. "Umm…Miss Bellmonte…?"

Alex obligingly pulled her nose from her book.

"I-I…I…umm…if you have a moment…perhaps you could help me with something?" As she finished Tania blushed fiercely. _This is stupid. I shouldn't have to ask for help. I'm a Slytherin and a Dethart._

"If I'm not interrupting…"

"Not at all, Tania." Alex changed her tone to sound older, "You're too young to know the value of interruption." Tania gave her a quiet snort, mostly of amusement."Anyway," Alex closed her book, slid off the couch, and grinned. "what're we working on?"

_You can't know! It's mine._ Tania barely kept herself from moving her notes out of Alex's reach. How could she expect Alex's help if she didn't tell her what Tania was working on? Was she supposed to divine it?

"Never fear," Alex assured her, "I give you my most solemn promise as a Bellmonte and Slytherin that anything related to or involved with your Project that is discussed will never go beyond us two. Furthermore I swear that I will personally torture anyone trying to steal or use your work without your permission. And besides, you don't have to tell me _why_ you need the information you're asking about."

Her promise was exactly what Tania needed to hear and she relaxed again. "I want to know everything you know about Wizarding Space."

The other girl blinked. "Do you know how long it'll take to get through all of it?" she asked, then frowned a little. "We can do it that way, but, I'd hate to waste your time covering things you already know. If you could give me a tiny little hint as to what you're looking for…well, it'd all go much faster."

Tania scowled, trying to decide what to say. She had thought that Alex could give her a bunch of information that Tania could sort through later to get what she needed. Could she, would she, did she trust Alex that much? She had never shared her work with anyone, except Hunter, and he never saw much.

"Okay." And with that one word Tania realized she _did_ trust Alex that much. How or why, she didn't know, but there it was. "What do you know about the formation of Wizarding Space?"

"Making it? Umm…well, supposedly the original owners of Never-Ending came across the perfect formula, which has remained a closely guarded secret ever since. But I find it unlikely as there are reports of things that could only have taken place thanks to Wizarding Space from long before the store existed."

"I _do_ know that the amount of space per inch ratio in the Never-Ending inventory is vastly higher than most normal shops…which is what makes it so expensive. In fact…" Alex scrambled up over the couch and grabbed her bag. "Here, look at that. It's a birthday gift from my parents. A Never-Ending. I've fit most of the contents of my trunk in there before."

Tania did as asked and took the bag. She stuck her hand in it and felt the presence of Wizarding Space inside. It was clearly an Never-Ending. After a second she pulled it back out quite impressed with the work, but her mind had found the one piece of critical information in Alex's explanation. "What did you mean by 'space per inch ratio'?"

"Oh!" Alex looked over in surprise. "Well, you can't create something from nothing even with magic, especially not on this magnitude. What happens is they take existing space, such a as bag or a trunk and use magic to stretch and expand it. So, your trunk isn't any bigger but it can hold more per inch than it could originally."

Tania nodded slowly, understanding dawning over her face. "Which means it's not a separate area attached to the trunk to keep it in the physical but just the trunk itself!"

"Does that help at all?" Alex asked, though Tania's mind barely registered it. She was already adding this new knowledge to the other pieces she was working on. Yes, this might be exactly the missing puzzle piece. She stuck her head back in the trunk, inspecting it in a new light.

"Mm-hmm." She muttered, already neck deep inside trunk.

"If you like I'll clear out my bag and you can have it, either for research or to store your stuff while you work on your trunk." Alex offered, interrupting Tania's thoughts.

She pulled herself back out and stared at Alex. "You…? Oh, I couldn't. You need it to-"

"No, not really. I have other book bags, and I'll be deep in this particular text for weeks and won't need any of my other references. Here." Alex grabbed the thing off the floor and stared pulling things out of it. Tania watched as Alex pulled pile after pile of things out of the bag. It seemed to go on forever.

"Heh. You know maybe I'll clear it out and let you have it tomorrow."

"Alright."

"Good." The pile disappeared more rapidly than they'd shown up. "I'd hate to have to carry all that upstairs." Tania smiled. She could image the annoyance of that.

Looking from the empty table to the satchel Alex suddenly frowned. "What was I doing?"

"Your book?" Tania pointed helpfully.

"Oh yeah. Thanks."

But Tania was already lost to the world again and didn't respond. Maybe she could get some sleep tomorrow night. Right now, there was too much to do.

* * *

Tania walked with Christina and Faith down to lunch. They had just finished another stimulating session with Demon Moody, as the twins called him. The other girls had offered to run back to Common Room and drop off all the books if seats would be saved for them. The Third Year girls had decided that there were only three logical times for the first Challenge to occur: right after breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Otherwise it would either be a complete _pain_ to make sure everyone got there or it would interrupt classes and all the Professors hated that.

Merging with the other streams of students in search of food and information, Faith picked up the conversation that had started earlier, pranking Blaise. It was there most talked about subject the past weeks.

"So, we've done the homework switching, the noises in the middle of the night and I think every girl knows the story of Blaise and the Featherfern. What should we do next?"

"Color his hair?" Christina suggested, pushing past a Ravenclaw and a Hufflepuff. They glared at her, and she glared back, but better.

"How about lime green with silver streaks?" Tania replied, getting into the idea. Both girls grinned, giggled, and nodded vigorously.

"That's bloody brilliant, Tania."

"See I knew you were a genius!"

Tania shook her head, trying to tone them down. "It wasn't that great. It's just our House colors." A smile broke over her face, "Oh, look girls, It's Blaise." All three Slytherins gave Blaise identical innocent smiles and little waves. As they giggled, Tania caught a very confused look on his face as he watched them walk into the Great Hall. The youngest Dethart felt a twinge of guilt. Blaise had just been obeying the manners he had been taught to observe and here they were punishing him for it. Besides, he was sweet and nice and… The girls drew her attention away from Blaise and to the food in front of them.

* * *

She hated crowds. _I hate them, I hate them, I hate them._ People pushing and shoving and stepping on toes. She jabbed an elbow into the gut of a Hufflepuff and slammed her foot down on a Gryffindor's toes. Teach them to mess with her. She was a Slytherin.

"Have you no respect?" A male voice came from her right and for a brief moment she though maybe Blaise had come to her rescue. A solid, familiar presence came into her view.

"What a bunch of rabble!" Charlie's voice was more easily discernable. The first voice belonged to Mark. "Let's teach them a lesson." She looked over to see the second Slytherin pulling his wand out of a pocket.

"Now that would be obvious, Charlie," Miles appeared from somewhere. "Let's save it for when we have their undivided attention. It wouldn't do for them to miss the lesson due to too many distractions."

"Besides, we have another task," Now it was Eddie's turn to 'magically' show up. "We have escort duty, and duty to a pureblood lady take precedent over pranking some lowlifes." He sketched Tania a half-bow. She inclined her head back.

"Well, I certainly appreciate the assistance. Apparently our classmates are a herd of beasts when excited," she retorted with a drawl. All four boys broke out laughing.

"Now you know she's a Dethart. That was exactly what Hunter would have said… only better." Charlie assured her.

Tania arched an eyebrow at the comment. "Oh, really? There was doubt that we were blood related?" All the boys exchanged looks and shook their head quickly.

"Oh, no, no," Mark was quick to defend his friend, "We only meant that we can't see how Falon is related to you both. The latest poll is either switched at birth or dropped on his head from a flying broomstick."

"Yes, and both of those theories are very logical," Hunter joined his friends, with a quick look at his sister. She seemed to be alright Tania caught Blaise standing on the stairs, then he vanished back up the stands. She wondered what he was doing, when the Marauders pulled her attention back. Soon they were climbing the stairs themselves to settle in for the first challenge.


	14. Falon and Pansy

A/N: I am so sorry that this took so long to put up. I had a little writer's block, then when I did finish it, I forgot I hadn't put it up. Actually, what I finished was chapter 15. I forgot I hadn't posted 14. The up side of this is I have Chapter 15 done and most of 16 done. I will try to post ASAP, but I have colloege too, so it will depend on my homework. Poke me if I don't put one up at least once a month. The part from Falon's POV was written by RaineArilan, who managed to get inside his head. I think she took 6 showers to cleam up the mess.

* * *

Falon dodged a running Gryffindor, he wished he could say gracefully, but he knew better. That old, familiar twisting in his gut began again.

Everyone always said that his sister was the failure child in their family, but Falon knew better. He _was_ a Dethart. He _was_ a pure-blood noble just like all the rest of them. Yet somehow he, merely by existing, had failed. He was better, smarter, faster witted, with better looks and manners, but somewhere, deep in his core, there was something missing. Something that had been made only too clear when the Hat had Sorted him into the wrong House.

To a Malfoy being Sorted into Ravenclaw, the second best House in the school, wouldn't be such a problem. It wouldn't reduce their enormous power in the slightest. But to a Dethart, whose standing within the social structure was measured in such small increments, even such a little failure was tantamount to betrayal…at least to his father it was.

Falon shivered and pretended to himself that it was just the winter cold. All around him the rest of the student body got up from their tables and headed off to their classes. Lunch was over and Falon suddenly wished he hadn't eaten.

Ahead of him, where he stood near one wall, was his prey. Brilliantly beautiful, each one, with the kind of grace in every breath that only came after millennia of breeding. They were so beautiful…so lovely.

From across the Great Hall they seemed almost creatures of ice and diamonds as they stood, chatting with one another. What, exactly, they were talking about, Falon didn't know…but he wanted to.

Somehow he knew it was as beautiful and perfect as everything else in that world. The world he _needed _to belong to so badly.

Dammit he deserved it!

Not all of the girl's were still here, of course, most had left for classes, but there were enough. Off to one side stood most of the seventh years and Falon's mind flinched away from those options. Most of them would probably wouldn't even recognize him...and he dismissed Tara Cromwell out of hand. There was just no way in any of the nine hells.

But next to them, just now turning to make a remark, stood someone who was, not only perfect like them all, but within reach. Pansy Parkinson, a girl who wanted to be a lady as bad as he wanted power.

And money was power, if you had the blood to back it up. Together they could each get what they wanted.

Her current companion, her friend, Millicent Bulstrode, said something and nodded towards the door. Pansy replied, her lips moving almost slowly in Falon's vision. Together they began to leave the Hall.

It was too perfect! Falon rushed after them, ignorant of the people he shoved aside to get where he was going.

If they got in his way it was their own fault. He didn't even notice them.

Shoving through the doors just as they finished swinging shut he saw that, save for the three of them, the hall was empty.

"Ladies!" he called, hoping it sounded arrogant and mostly uninterested. Knowing his voice had probably failed him.

Either way the message was given and received. They stopped and looked back at him with strange expressions on their faces.

"Pansy," Falon stopped in front of her and swept his gaze over her with, he hoped, just the right amount of casual interest, "I have considered my options and thought, since there is no one better to go with, that you would accompany me to the Yule Ball."

And there it was, all laid out before her brilliantly grey eyes….grey eyes that didn't blink for several long seconds. Milli wrinkled her nose and leaned over to whisper something in Pansy's ear. Pansy's mouth formed a tiny, silent "Oh".

"…You're…Falon?" she asked softly, searching his face.

"Yes, m'lady." He sketched a partial bow, all that someone of her standing deserved.

"Falon..._Dethart_?"

He frowned in confusion, surely she already knew that. "I…yes, m'lady."

"…oh….my…goodness.." Milli hasped out and, for the first time Falon realized that she was doubled over with laughter. From beside her Pansy began to snicker.

"And he just _dared_…"

"I _know_!" Pansy gasped, laughing almost hysterically. "_Falon Dethart_!"

Leaning against each other for support the two girls turned and walked away down the hall towards their class. Behind them Falon stood frozen, feeling as though he'd just been punched in the gut.

As always, with any hurt, he curled defensively around it with fury. What had they said? "Falon _Dethart_ had dared"?

Why had his name been so important…unless they knew something. Unless someone had told them something bad about him. And the only people who despised him enough, who envied him enough to spread such a rumor were his older brother and his thrice damned younger sister!

He ground his teeth together and began to shake with silent fury. Once again they had ruined something he had worked long and hard to build! Once again they had gone too far! Once again he'd have to punish them for it in Father's absence!

It was his duty to his family name.

* * *

Tania shivered through her outer coat as she stepped back into the castle. There was several inches of snow on the ground, which she had just spent the last two hours walking through. Professor Snape had asked her on Monday if she would go to Hogsmeade the following Saturday and get some supplies for him. Instantly, the Dethart girl had agreed. It was a chance to make Snape happy, something she found more and more enjoyable, and it gave her an excuse to explore the shop more.

Professor Snape had given her a list and some galleons as well as a pass allowing her to be in town even though it wasn't a Hogsmeade Weekend. Tania had immediately returned to Common Room and wheedled some galleons out of Hunter so she could but some supplies for herself. Professor Snape would have understood completely if she had chosen not to go with all the snow, but Tania wasn't going to pass up such an opportunity.

The Slytherin third-year carefully made her way across the Hall to where the stairs to the dungeons were. She had to avoid wet students, apparently coming in from a snow fight. She'd hazard a guess that the group of Gryffies glaring and soaking had been the target of some of her Housemates.

Tania dodged the last of them, careful not to bump any of her pile of packages. Most of the jars were glass and it would be unforgivable to break one so close to safety. Luckily, the only people to come down to the dungeons were Slytherins, except for classes, and it was Saturday. Her Housemates knew what potion ingredients looked like and knew the look of a comrade protecting something precious. The one Hufflepuff on the stairs was quickly and semi-painfully shoved into the wall by Charlie when he saw her coming. He grinned, thanking her for the excuse to torment a Puffball.

Once she was off the stairs, Tania was in the safety zone…or so she thought. Suddenly, out of thin air appeared Blaise Zabini. Before Tania could register he was there, the Slytherin boy had stopped _right_ in front of her, forcing her to check her motion and come _way_ to close to possibly breaking something.

Tania took several deep breaths to calm her thudding heart. _How dare he almost make me break potion ingredients._

"Greetings, m'dear," Blaise said cheerfully.

The Slytherin girl fought with the desire to glare at him and lost. Blaise blinked and took a step back. Apparently she had startled him. _Serves him right!_

"Um, Tania? Is something the matter?" Blaise asked, recovering the ability to think and talk, at least a little.

Tania said nothing, just continued to glare at him. Zabini shifted, running a hand through his hair.

"Did you not notice," she said coolly, "what I was carrying?" Blaise's sin was enormous in her eyes and that gave her the courage to speak this way.

The boy's gaze darted to the pile of packages she carried, then back to her face. "My apologies," he began, trying to regain control of what was going on.

"These are _potion_ ingredients. Professor _Snape's_ potion ingredients. If I had dropped them…." She stopped, letting the tone of her voice and Blaise's imagination finish her sentence.

The older boy was fast, she'd give him that. he put his hands out almost immediately and took a step back. "I _am_ sorry. Please accept my humblest of apologies. It was never my intention to endanger your packages. I would never _dream_ of it. _Could_ never dream of it. My lady, I…." He trailed off miserably.

Tania considered him for a moment, then relaxed slightly. She nodded to him. "Forgiven," she said, adding an air of regality to better hide the guilt creeping into her mind. "So did you need me for something? If you couldn't tell, I'm a little busy," Tania added in a rush, using up the last of her anger induced courage.

Blaise quickly changed gears, flashing her a charming smile. "I came to ask if you'd go to the Ball with me. Now I'm sure you have been asked by all of our Housemate, male that is, and a plethora of upstart lowlifes from the other Houses, but they are not worthy of you nor your beauty. The lowlifes, I mean…not the Slytherins." He paused and cleared his throat with a hint of embarrassment before plunging on. "I am fairly certain – no, I am certain – that my fellow Slytherins could show you the respect you so clearly and eloquently deserve, but we have already developed a repore, a connection which I know you will not deny. And if that will not warm your heart towards me, then perhaps that I am the best dancer in the House will, or that I will treat you like the Queen you are. But, alas, ice still grips your heart towards me. Yet know, if it pleases you, that I have already received permission to escort you from your protective brother." Blaise barely took a breath during his speech. He abruptly, but gently, took the packages from Tania and set them on the floor. He followed them, sinking to one knee and taking her hands in his. "Will none of this sway you towards kindness? Would you please agree to allow me the extreme honor of escorting you to the Yule Ball?"

By this time, Tania was bright red. She was unnerved at the sudden lose of her precious packages as well as the thick flattery Blaise was laying on. In fact, until he'd said it there at the end, she hadn't even known what he'd been talking about. Numbly, she nodded consent.

Zabini leapt to his feet, bowed low over her hand and kissed it with a smile. He retrieved her boxes from the floor and put them back into her unmoving hands. Then he was gone as suddenly as he'd appeared.

Slowly, Tania resumed her motion toward the Potions classroom. When she walked in, Snape was sitting at his desk, working on something as usual. He looked up as she entered and took in the layers of clothes, the wet hems on her robes, the boxes in her hands and dazed look in her eyes. He crossed the room with several long strides.

"Ms. Dethart? Are you well?" he asked, gently taking the packages from her.

_Much as Blaise had._ "I…um…Blaise, he…." She trailed off, giving her Head of House a look of confusion.

Snape smiled with amused coldness. "Yes, Mr. Zabini does seem to have that affect. Why don't you come into my office, Ms. Dethart."

Tania followed Snape blindly, slowly, _very_ slowly, coming out of the haze Blaise had caused.


	15. PreBall Panic

A/N: Now, the long awaited Ball...Almost. It's Ball night. I hope you like it.

* * *

Tania dodged two Sixth Year boys as they hurried through Common Room to the stairs that led to the Boys Dorm. Odd, usually they would have walked around her and those two never rushed anywhere. Even more odd was the fact that neither one had paused to apologize. Both boys came from more than decent families and honor demanded that they at least acknowledge their mistake. Tania shrugged and filed the information away for later. Who knew when it could come in handy? Knowledge was power and she could use as much power as she could get her hands on. The Slytherin girl shifted her books to her other arm as she wove her way though Common Room herself. It seemed every single one of her Housemates had lost their minds. The normally calm and orderly room was filled with the older students rushing around, up and down the stairs. The only time Common Room was this crazy was right before a Qudditch match or when there was a duel between Housemates. 

Sliding into a corner table, Tania hoped the chaos would go away so she could get some reading done. Her research about Wizarding Space had been explosive. Pieces were falling into place. Information was making sense after her talk with Alex. If only she could have some quiet, she might be able to get something accomplished. It had been hard to find time to work as Christmas drew closer. Professors had been handing out extra homework to prepare them for the mid-year exams. While none of it was hard, it was time consuming.

Tania swallowed a growl as she looked up to see more of her Housemates cluttering up _her_ workspace. They were making more and more noise, chattering nonsense to each other. She barely noticed the fact that they were all dressed up in their finery. Her Housemates were a wash of colors and were bedecked in jewels, but it was completely lost on the Third Year girl. Tania was gathering up her notes and books to head up to her dorm. At least there the boys would be out of her hair and the girls didn't make great amounts of noise most of the time. Sometimes they got a little… rambunctious, but it usually stayed in the hall or other dorm rooms. The were almost always one or two rooms where those who didn't want to participate could hide out. A Silencing Charm worked wonders to keep out the noise.

Tania pushed open the door to the Third Year dorm and set her books on her desk. She pulled out her wand and lit half a dozen candles for more light to study by. The room was blessedly quiet. It seemed she was right. The chaos hadn't reached her room. Oddly enough that was one of the things she missed about home. It was the most horrible place to live, but no one came into her room except Hunter. She had large amounts of time to herself. If Tania was wanted at home, Father sent a servant to get her. He never came himself.

_Ok, thoughts like that don't help anything, let alone help me complete this project. _

With a little too much force, Tania pulled open her notebook. And began to write. If there were any tears in her eyes, she blamed the candles she had lit a few minutes ago. Tania Dethart did _not_ cry. That was even more useless than the thought she had been thinking.

Suddenly the door burst open and the other Third Year girls came pouring in. They stopped their chatter abruptly as they took in Tania at the desk in her normal black robes. Tania blinked and gave her Year-mates a confused look. They were dressed for a Ball. It was obvious. They weren't wearing date dresses or dinner dresses, but _Ball_ gowns. Faith broke out of her daze first and ran over to Tania.

"What are you doing? Why aren't you ready to go?" she exclaimed, closing Tania's book and pulling her to her feet. The Dethart girl watched this and allowed herself to be pulled up.

"What do you mean, 'ready to go'? Go where? Why are you all dressed for a Ball? The puzzled tone was clear in her voice. The other girls exchanged glances, then the twins stepped forward.

"The Yule Ball…"

"It's tonight."

_Tonight? The Yule Ball is tonight… with Blaise!_ She had agreed to go to the Ball with Blaise, hadn't she? Tania barrowed one of Alex's favorite phrases.

"Dragon Shite!" she exclaimed, running to her closet. The other girls took a step back in shock at her uncharacteristic remark. Clothes of all kinds came flying through the air. Shirts, dresses, socks, pants, robes, gloves, and a few hats soon littered Tania's bed and the floor around it.

"Do you want some help?" Christina asked, staying out of the line of fire. The question resulted in a pause in the flurry of activity. Tania peeked her head out of her closet and studied her Dorm mates for a moment. Then she shook her head and waved them toward the door.

"No, no. You go. I'll be fine. There must be something in here I can wear." Her head disappeared back into the closet She didn't see the exchange of looks or the shrugging that took place. The Dethart girl was vaguely aware of the retreating footsteps and the sound of the door shutting. Pulling her last option to her, Tania looked in the mirror and bit back a sob of despair. Wrong, wrong, wrong! It was all wrong! Panic began to build in the pit of her stomach. She had promised Blaise that she would go, but had nothing to wear. When she didn't show up, he would come find her. (She forgot that he couldn't get up the stairs to the Girls Dorm. ) No matter what she said or did, he would grab her and drag her down to the Ball. Images of Falon began to superimpose themselves over her vision of what Blaise would do.

Once they got to the Ball, everyone would laugh at her. The worst of it would be the cool smirking laughter from her fellow Slytherins. Then Falon would saunter over, his face unreadable as he took in the disgrace she had brought to the Family, just like she did with every action she did. He would make her pay for her sins and everyone would just watch. Even Professor Snape would coolly watch. No one ever stopped Falon. They would even stop Hunter from helping her. Blaise would watch with the others, his Dorm mates flanking him on either side. He would be amused at Falon's display or disgusted by her weakness. Maybe Falon would get Draco Malfoy to show him a few tricks that _his_ Father had taught him. Then Alex would look at her in distain and walk away.

…

Alex…Alex! Alex might still be in her Dorm. Alex might be able to help her figure something out. Grabbing an armful of dresses, Tania flew out of her room and down the hall.

* * *

_Oh, no! She's not here! What am I going to do now?_ Tania shifted her pile of cloth to her other arm and knocked again on Alex's door. _Calm Down! You have to calm down!_ The door was flung open before she had finished the knock. Alex stood on the other side, blinking as she registered Tania. 

"I'm going to the Ball," the younger Slytherin stated, "And it's all wrong!" She stopped before saying more that would allow the panic to begin again. Instead she looked at the offending cloth in her arms, and had to add one more comment. "None of it _works_!" She noticed her voice had taken on a angry, frustrated tone and she swallowed to settle herself. She saw the corner of Alex's mouth twitch.

"You don't have anything to wear, do you?" Alex asked. At that simple question, all of the anger vanished. She still didn't know what to wear, but Alex was sympathetic. It might be possible for Tania to convince her to help.

"No!" she answered Alex trying to sound not as desperate as she was. How successful she was, Tania didn't know.

Alex chuckled and Tania was heartened a little more. "You poor thing. Come in. I'll fix it." The older girl gently took the pile of wrinkled clothing from Tania's hands and tossed to on a bed with one hand as she used the other to direct Tania inside. Pansy was still in the Dorm and she looked to take… either pity or sympathy on the younger girl.

"If you need anything from mine, go ahead and use it," Pansy said, a little harsh as she grabbed her purse and left. Had she interrupted something? She hoped Alex wasn't mad, too. Tania shifted from one foot to another as she noticed Alex shoot Pansy a strange look.

Alex shut the door behind Pansy. "Ok then. Tania, nothing meant, but strip." Echoes of similar commands fought to come to the surface of her mind and she flinched. Father's harsh insistence filled her ears for a moment. Faint whispers of pain touched her back. Violently shoving those memories away from her, she began to take off her school uniform. Alex was busy sorting through the dresses in her closet. She discarded several before finally choosing one.

"Hmm…let's do-No!…Umm…this one!" Alex snatched up the dress and held it up to Tania. After a second of consideration, she nodded. "Yeah, try it on."

Doing as commanded, the Dethart girl gently and carefully slid into the dress. It was the finest silk and the sensation of the cool smoothness on her skin brought a pleased smile to her face. Alex pulled out her wand and apparently cast a charm to fix the hems as the dress settled more firmly around her frame. She stood still as the older girl appraised the effort. The dress fell to her ankles, flowing around her with each movement she made. The material was made of a darker red and Tania fancied she could see a little purple in it. There were no sleeves and it was backless as well. The front of the dress was cut with a V-neck style. It was a little more… daring a cut than she would have normally worn, but she wasn't going to protest.

"Perfect…no, Tania. No mirrors until I finish. Here, put those on." Tania bit back a sheepish grin as Alex handed over a dancing slippers, obviously meant for that dress. They were made of accenting black silk, simple and elegant. She took them and sank onto the bed as she watched Alex cross the room to her desk. Pulling out a jewelry case she began humming as she rummaged through it. "Here," she said again, dropping a pair of dangly earrings into Tania's open hand. "I'll get the chocker.

"What…what kind of gems are these?" Tania asked softly, looking at the glittering black jewels. They were very beautiful. She could see the depths to them. The firelight in the Great hall would dance off of these.

"Black opals, I think," her friend replied. A black silk ribbon bearing a much larger version of the opals in the earrings dropped across her eyes for a second as Alex tied the chocker deftly around her neck.

"That's brilliant, now hair. Up or down, do you think?"

Tania opened her mouth, but before anything came out Alex decided. "Down, definitely down. It's long enough you won't freeze in that dress."

Tania smiled, feeling the first hints of excitement bubbling up under the anxiety of it all. Sliding the earrings in, she reached up and began pulling out the pins keeping her hair out of her way.

Alex stopped her rummaging and turned back towards her, a black ribbon in one hand. She froze suddenly, a frown twisting her smile.

"Umm, Tania…"

Tania let her hands drop from her hair in confusion, saw her own bare arms and blanched. There was no way she'd screwed up so badly! It was…and now Alex knew and-

"Well, then gloves, I think." The calm acceptance in the other girl's voice ended the panic attack before it got off the ground. Reaching around behind her, Alex pulled out a handful of elbow length gloves of half a dozen colors. Pulling out the – surprise! – black ones she handed them over before moving around to kneel on the bed behind her.

Tania stared at the lengths of silk as she felt a brush working its way through her hair.

"_Breathe,_ m'dear," Alex said softly near her ear. "I'm not going to say anything."

Tania's lips twitched and she wanted to say something, anything, but there wasn't anything. She swallowed painfully, as if something were caught in her throat, and took a deep breath to calm her shattered thoughts.

"I think I'll do a little of both, actually, Tania. Let's just take most of this top layer around your face and do a half ponytail."

"Uhh…." Tania applied all of her genius to a reply. "Sure. Whatever you want."

Alex sniffed arrogantly. "Always, dear. Always." She stopped her puttering and leaned over Tania's shoulder and smiled at her profile. "All done. Go find a mirror."

Tania shrugged, walking over to the full length mirror. Whatever Alex said, Tania _had_ seen herself made up before, it wasn't going to be much different…except it was. She wasn't in a dress designed to create a wallflower of her. In fact, despite the length of fabric and the gloves, a very great deal of her skin seemed to be showing.

A very great deal of her skin was showing and she looked _good_! Tania started to grin at her reflection.

"Hey, I'm done myself if you are, Tania. We should go, Blaise isn't late to anything."

Alex's words had a profound affect. Tania stopped grinning. "Shit!" she hissed, blushing furiously. Still watching the mirror, Tania noticed that the red flush extended much lower than her neck.

Alex appeared behind her in the reflection, her gown white with a scarlet corset, her face serious. "You look gorgeous, Tani. Let him think he's leading and keep him on his toes. You'll have no problems." She wrinkled her nose. "Me, on the other hand, I'm going with the Head Baddock himself. _I_ will be having problems."

Tania started to giggle and Alex smoothed her skirt and straightened the off-the-shoulder ruffle that made up her very Southern American style gown. "What?" she asked innocently.

"Just…nothing." Tania shook her head. "Let's go."

* * *

The top of the stairs had never seemed so… terrifying, If she took a step down she would be committing to the Ball with Blaise. No matter what she had agreed to or promised, until she saw Blaise, all bets were off. She could come up with any excuse, especially if Hunter helped. She had risked enough with Blaise at Hogsmeade and even then, Falon had seen her. There would be no way for him to not see her tonight. No matter how many people were in the Great Hall, Falon had a Tania-sense. He could always find her. And he would never think that Blaise might have asked her to the Ball. No, he would be certain that she was _imposing_ on an older, more powerful bloodline. _That_ was completely unacceptable. 

Alex had paused when Tania did. "You're not going, are you?" she asked, softly, sympathetically. A wave of relief washed over her. Alex _did_ understand her fears and concerns. It was such a freeing thought that someone other than Hunter understood without long explanations.

Tania summoned a long dark blue cloak from her room and pulled it around her shoulders as she took a step back from the stairs. "Thank you so much, Alex. Will you tell him for me?"

Alex's smile turned evil.

* * *

Blaise stood in the Common Room waiting for his date. He wasn't bored, Blaise Zabini was never bored for long. If there was nothing to do, he made something up. Right now he was practicing his manly poses. Two First years watched his antics, not sure if they should be amused or disturbed. He faced them with a flip of his hair. 

"Don't hate me that I'm going to the Ball and you have to stay here." That was all be managed to say before he felt a yank on the back of his hair. Whirling he came face to face with Seventh Year, Tara Cromwell. She had a serious look on her face, except for the twinkle in her eye that apparently all Cromwells had. Blaise remembered last year, when Tara's twin brothers had been the Kings of Slytherin House.

"If you keep flipping it like that, it will fall out one day," she remarked, patting him on the head and smirking. Tara didn't wait for a response as she sauntered up the stairs to leave Common Room, her date keeping step. Blaise waved her away with one _significant_ finger and noticed the First Years had paled. Suddenly, from behind Blaise, all hell broke loose.

_THUD!_

Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-bum-bum! Bum!

_SLAM- "OW!"_

There was a second of silence. "ALEX! What was that for?" Tania's voice echoed down the stairs, easily reaching Common Room. Alex's response was calm and collected, but most people didn't realized how good Bliase's hearing was. He could catch the entire conversation, even though no more of it was shouted.

"I said Blaise didn't bite. I never said I didn't." Was the cool reply. "If you don't want to go, tell him yourself."

"But I-"

"I don't care if you think he's ugly, annoying, or the biggest pain in the ass you've ever met! He's a Slytherin and as such deserves at the very least a face to face refusal as opposed to a cowardly 'Dear John' letter in the form of one of his best friends!"

"It's not that," Tania quickly protested, "He's a total sweetheart, but…"

"But what?" Alex responded, her comment nearly lost amidst Blaise's mental exultations of _I'm a sweetheart. A Sweetheart. Draco was never called a sweetheart._

"He's in _Danger!_" Tania blurt out, concern and fear threading her voice.

"From who?" Alex was paranoid enough to at least consider the other girl's statement at face value. Tania's face instantly shut down some, and she shook her head quickly. She took a step back from Alex, as if that would stop the inquiry.

"I-I, He just is." She hedged as much as possible.

Alex smiled. "Tania, dear, if you look around Blaise, he is usually in trouble. Most of the time he caused the trouble himself. I'm going to the Ball, don't forget. If Blaise does get in trouble I'll get him out… or make Draco do it."

_Make Draco do it!_ Blaise thought annoyed. _Draco! Save me! But, but…Ladies how could you._ His indignation melted into a mental wail. He decided to end the conversation before they hurt his manly pride any more.

"Ladies! I can hear you. And don't think I can't get up the stairs. That is a myth perpetuated by women like Tara Cromwell!" Blaise flipped his hair one more time in defiance to all things Tara. There was a pronounced silence for a few seconds.

Alex's face peeked around the corner and she grinned. "We'll be down in a minute. Tania has to… fix her make-up." She disappeared for another minute, then both girls walked calmly down the stairs as if nothing had ever happened. Tania still wore the dark cloak around her and Blaise wondered if she was wearing anything underneath it. He mentally smacked himself as he realized that such a thought was unworthy of him and, more importantly her. He took a few steps forward to meet the girls.

"Good evening, Blaise," Alex said, "Take good care of my girl and Donovan is waiting." With a flash of her hand, Alex whipped the black cloak from Tania's shoulders and sauntered up the stair to the dungeon halls. Tania followed Alex's departure with her gaze, not wanting to turn her attention back to her date. But Alex's form left the Common Room and she had no choice. The Third Year brought her eyes to rest on Blaise Zabini and felt her face turn red.

Blaise was standing there in his dress robes, his eyes wide as he stared at her. There was a half-smile, half-smirk playing on his lips. His mouth was hanging open, just a little. Tania shifted from one foot to the other, waiting for something, anything to let her know what Blaise was thinking.

"Um… Blaise?" Tania asked, after a few minutes of silence. "The Ball?" Blaise shook himself out of his apparent daze and gave her a charming smile.

"Tania, my dear, you look amazing," he held out a hand to her with a flourish. She hesitated for a second and he took a step forward and took her hand before she could protest. He was standing at her side then, an infectious grin calming her unease at the contact.

"Now, you weren't _really_ going to bail on me, were you?" Blaise asked with a touch of innocent pleading in his voice as they walked up the stairs and exited Common Room. "I _am_ thankful that you are so concerned with the possible danger I might be in, but Alex is correct, I usually get in, and out, on my own." Blaise continued his chatter as they emerged into the Entrance Hall. They joined the crowd of students heading into the Great Hall.

"I can promise this will be an interesting evening, Tania." Blaise assure her as they stepped into the Great Hall.


End file.
